An Original Contribution to the Theory of Technology Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Nigeria’s Tech Hubs

Technology entrepreneurship ecosystems in emerging markets exhibit distinctive structural and dynamic properties that existing ecosystem theories, developed primarily from Silicon Valley and European innovation system experiences, inadequately explain. Nigeria's tech hub ecosystem, centred on Lagos but with important nodes in Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt, provides an original empirical context for theory development. This study makes an original theoretical contribution to understanding technology entrepreneurship ecosystems in emerging markets through a multi-method longitudinal investigation of Nigeria's tech hub ecosystem from 2018 to 2023. A mixed-methods panel design combined quantitative ecosystem health tracking across 47 tech hubs using a validated Tech Ecosystem Vitality Index with in-depth longitudinal qualitative case studies of twelve tech startups at varying maturity stages across six geopolitical zones. Quantitative panel regression and qualitative process tracing were applied. Available tech ecosystem theory from emerging market contexts identifies investor-market size mismatch, talent export to foreign markets, and regulatory uncertainty as ecosystem constraints not captured in standard ecosystem models. Isenberg's Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Model, the National Innovation System Framework, and the Institutional Logics Theory provide the sensitising theoretical framework. Findings generate an original Emergent Ecosystem Resilience Theory that explains how Nigerian tech hubs develop adaptive strategies to navigate structural constraints through diaspora network activation, regulatory arbitrage, and pan-African market orientation. The theory contributes original propositions not present in existing entrepreneurship ecosystem theory. Keywords: technology entrepreneurship, ecosystem theory, Nigeria, tech hubs, emerging markets.