Purpose—This research discusses emerging trends in financial inclusion, barriers and factors influencing mobile banking as an innovative solution for increasing financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with a specific focus on Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach—Using a qualitative meta-synthesis (QMS), an interpretivist research paradigm, authors provide an analytical tool for understanding the subject of inquiry by integrating findings from previous studies and relevant data from the reports of the Central Bank of Nigeria on emerging trends in financial inclusion. Findings—Three major factors emerged as drivers of mobile banking in Nigeria: (a) the ease of using mobile devices for personal banking transactions including prompt information about users’ financial transactions (savings and withdrawals) immediately through SMS (short message service) alert (easy management of my account); (b) the security/safety concerns of theft and cyber fraud; (c) social influence of friends, relatives, policy makers and social trends. Implications—In contextualizing mobile banking in SSA and in Nigeria in particular, this paper contributes to exploring the growth in the use of mobile banking by linking it with the “value in use” (VIU) perspective. This approach of the service dominant logic involves three sub-constructs (experience, personalization, and relationship), which all validate and support the proposed assertion that mobile banking is adopted by users because of utility expectancy (perceived usefulness), effort expectancy (perceived ease of use), and social influence expectancy (opinions of friends/relatives). Originality/value—This research, although qualitative in nature, validates information technology (IT) adoption theories/perspectives and enriches the “value in use” approach.

Purpose: – Poverty is a plague which has continental manifestation, but its impact is heavily felt in several Muslim majority nations (MMNs), where unemployment, illiteracy, chronic diseases, food shortage, sectarian wars and wave of militancy are surging at alarming rates. The purpose of this paper is to develop a faith-based model (FBM) to complement the conventional poverty reduction models. Experiences have shown that FBMs find more acceptability among Muslim nations because they have theoretical and theological underpinnings from the Qur’an and Hadith, as opposed to conventional models that are often viewed with suspicion, sequel to Islamic revivalism.Design/methodology/approach: – This research adopts a qualitative research method relying on secondary data/information sourced from CIA Factbook, previous scholarly works, working papers, case studies and relevant internet resources. In line with methodological approach of qualitative research, the secondary data/information were subjected to content and thematic analyses (CTA) from which facts, figures and presumptions were derived to support the FBM.Findings: – The paper justified the plausibility of integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR), Waqf system (WS) and Zakat system (TZS) as FBM for poverty reduction, enterprise development and economic empowerment in MMNs.Research limitations/implications: – The gap left behind by the paper is for future researchers to carry out an empirical investigation on the viability or otherwise of the FBM. This could include the governance structure, operational modalities and regulatory frameworks that would enhance the functioning of the FBM.Practical implications: – FBM framework is practically a corporate social investment (CSI), which would be heavily funded by Zakat payers, CSR donations and Waqf. The funds would be deployed to poverty reduction in a number of ways ranging from training, micro-credit support for SMEs, apprenticeships, setting up technology business incubation centres, cluster development, infrastructural development in industrial parks, as well as providing welfare support services to the poor, marginalised communities and other economically disadvantaged groups.Originality/value: – The theoretical research is a contribution to theory and practice of CSR in the field of management and Islamic economics. It has developed a FBM for adoption by MMNs who are hesitant in adopting western model for fear of compromising their ethical values.

Policymakers, governments, and Islamic financial institutions are increasingly focusing on sustainable development, leading to an in-depth examination of current sustainable finance practices, projects, and product portfolios. This study examines the role of Islamic sustainable finance (ISF) in promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to avert financial risk in the management of Islamic Finance Products (ISFP). Through qualitative analysis, the study conducts a critical literature review (CLR) that incorporates conceptual, theoretical, and empirical perspectives on ISF and SDGs and addresses two specific research questions. Our study examines over 48 journals from 2010 to 2024 and provides insights into how ISF advances the SDGs across all environmental, social, and economic dimensions. It also highlights that ISF promotes green entrepreneurship by investing in sustainable projects, supporting SMEs, and offering alternative financing. ISF also promotes financial stability, justice, and growth and is consistent with the principles of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. Key ISF mechanisms that promote the SDGs include Islamic Green Sukuk, Socially Responsible Investment Funds, Islamic Microfinance, and Islamic Impact Investing. Integrating Islamic ethical principles into financial activities is crucial for inclusive and sustainable economic development. These qualitative insights are critical for policymakers, Islamic financial institutions, Halal entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and investors to understand the potential of Islamic social finance (ISF) to support sustainable practices, projects, and portfolios. Furthermore, the ISFs alignment with Maqasid al-Shari’ah highlights its importance in promoting sustainable development while mitigating financial risk in ISFPs management. The study offers robust contributions to the existing literature to provide comprehensive insights into how ISF can be effectively used to promote SDGs.

The current study examines the motivational factors, types of uncertainty, and entrepreneurship strategies of transitional entrepreneurship among ethnic minorities, immigrants, and women entrepreneurs, drawing insights from an extensive literature review. To understand the dynamics of transitional entrepreneurship, a thematic review, a qualitative research tool, was used to analyze the research problem and provide answers to the research questions. Three insightful findings emerged from the thematic review. First, six broad themes emerged as catalysts for transitional entrepreneurship among the three focused entrepreneurs, namely, the institutional environment, push factors, pull factors, ethnic resource dependence, cultural inheritance, and gender identity issues. Specific elements of each of the six themes are explicated. Moreover, two levels of uncertainty (Levels 1 and 2) confront transitional entrepreneurs depending on countries and institutional contexts. Level 1 uncertainty presents a clear future with likelihoods, possibilities, and probabilities of success, while Level 2 uncertainty presents several alternate paths and trajectories with a blurred possibility of success for these entrepreneurs. Finally, transitional entrepreneurs leverage optioned and adaptive entrepreneurship strategies in different ways to cope with the two types of uncertainty in their host countries. Given the prospects of TE, the paper provides implications on how to remove the institutional barriers facing transitional entrepreneurs for more balanced socioeconomic inclusion in host countries. It further explicates a need to leverage the motivational factors and entrepreneurship strategies for economic development. By providing a theoretical-based framework of motivations, types of uncertainty, and entrepreneurship strategies, the paper bridges the gaps in the literature and contributes to a better way of understanding TE among ethnic minorities, immigrants, and women entrepreneurs in the period of transition.

Purpose: – This paper aims to examine the prospect of utilising corporate social responsibility and entrepreneurship (CSRE) as antidotes for mitigating the incidences of poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment in Nigeria. The paper derives its theoretical foundation from the stakeholder, instrumental and legitimacy theories, which all justify the use of CSRE for actualisation of Triple Bottom Line (i.e. the social, economic and environmental concerns of business organisations).Design/methodology/approach: – The study used the quantitative research method relying on the use of secondary data published by institutional bodies. The quantitative method entail a systematic extraction of reliable data on corporate social responsibility (CSR), insecurity, poverty and development from the publications of Office of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria, CLEEN Foundation, National Bureau of Statistics and Central Bank of Nigeria, respectively. For missing years, the authors improvised using projections as well as proxies. The extracted data, which spanned a period of 13 years, were subjected to econometric tests using SPSS, on the basis of which informed conclusions were drawn.Findings: – The first econometric result indicates a negative relationship between gross domestic product and poverty. The second result indicates that there is a positive significant relationship between gross domestic product and total crime rate. The third result indicates that there exists a positive relationship between gross domestic product and unemployment rate. The fourth result indicates that there is a negative relationship between gross domestic product and industrial growth rate. The last result indicates that there is a significant positive relationship between gross domestic product and CSR.Research limitations/implications: – The results of this research have macro-level application, hence the outcomes cannot be narrowed to any particular sector of the economy. A micro-level analysis across diverse sectors of the economy is recommended in future studies. The implication of this empirical research is that policymakers in the Nigerian private sector need to reinvent their CSR programmes as mechanisms for poverty eradication, entrepreneurship development (CSRE), dousing tension of restive youth, empowerment/support for security agencies for better crime prevention and for impacting on sustainable development.Practical implications: – In the face of dwindling financial resources in the treasury of governments, the reinvention of CSRE by private sector organisations as complementary mechanisms for combating social problems is becoming acceptable in both developed and developing nations. This paper therefore boldly recommends that policymakers reinvent CSRE as development mechanisms through a sound partnership between government, advocacy groups and business corporations in Nigeria.Social implications: – The paper explicates that CSR can indeed be reinvented by corporations as part of their social concerns to their operating environment instead of leaving all social problems to governments.Originality/value: – The research lends credence to stakeholder, instrumental and legitimacy theories of CSR. It also justifies the plausibility of CSRE, a novel concept being promoted in this research.

The chapter discusses Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with appropriate theoretical framings with the intent of creating a deeper understanding and application of CSR theories in Ibero-America’s hospitality industry. The research method is a qualitative research approach relying on critical review of scholarly articles on CSR theories. The sourced articles were critically discussed and analysed to fit the needs of the hospitality industry in Ibero-America. The shareholder/agency, stakeholder, legitimacy, instrumental, social contract, conflict, green and communication theories were identified as the eight dominant theories of CSR with diverse applications in the hospitality industry. The CSR theories discussed are not exhaustive, as there are emerging theories that explicate CSR in different contexts. The implication is that better understanding and application of CSR theories would strengthen conceptual, theoretical and empirical research in Ibero-America. The CSR theories are useful sources of information for practitioners for designing corporate CSR policies as well as providing scholars with sound theoretical framework for academic research. The chapter is a novel attempt at bridging theory and practice in the field of CSR, as well enriching the understanding of this concept among both practitioners and scholars in Ibero-America.