Understanding institutional-based trust in SME internationalisation networks: a study of West African SMEs

This paper explores the interaction between trust and SME internationalisation in the market economies of Ghana and Nigeria. Recognising SMEs as crucial to economic growth, this study aims to bridge the gap in understanding how they achieve internationalisation with limited resources and insufficient institutional support. Thus, highlighting the significant role that trust plays within the context of institutions, particularly in overcoming internationalisation challenges posed by weak formal institutional structures. We offer some reflections which explore the relationship between trust and SMEs operating in Ghana and Nigeria as case studies. These countries exhibit similarities, such as deficiencies in institutional systems, yet they also present unique contexts in which institutions either facilitate or impede entrepreneurial activities. To achieve an understanding and address the core inquiries of our research, the paper is structured to answer these research objectives.