The role of the Christian faith in the emergence of social entrepreneurship in Lagos, Nigeria

Christians are routinely recognised as pioneer social entrepreneurs in the social entrepreneurship literature. However, there are limited empirical studies exploring how the personal faith of Christian social entrepreneurs influences their engagement and persistence in the ventures they create to tackle chronic social problems. Such gaps have led to calls for social entrepreneurship scholarship to take the experiences and theologies of religious adherents seriously.

The study aims to explore the role the faith of Pentecostal social entrepreneurs plays in the founding and development of their ventures in Lagos, Nigeria. A complementary purpose is to theologically reflect on the potential of social entrepreneurship as an integrated aspect of faithful Christian ministry. Toward these ends, the study adopts a methodology that combines social science interpretive research with practical theology, utilising a qualitative multiple case study to explore and reflect on the practices, experiences, and perspectives of 34 Pentecostal Christians involved in six social entrepreneurial ventures in Lagos, Nigeria. A thick description of the findings from a thematic analysis of the data is presented along three main themes: entrepreneurial motivations, entrepreneurial leadership, and venture organizing. Insights from the qualitative research are drawn upon to propose a practical theology of social entrepreneurship as an integrated aspect of Christian ministry.

The study contributes to a better understanding of the interrelationship between the Christian faith and social entrepreneurship. It reveals the Christian faith as a prevalent but fluid logic interacting with multiple other logics to influence Pentecostal social entrepreneurs' motivations, leadership, and venture organising in the founding and development of their social ventures in Lagos, Nigeria. The practical theological reflection unveils the lived theologies of participants and proposes a fivefold framework for practising social entrepreneurship as an aspect of Christian ministry. Future research can exploit the existing gaps in knowledge about the interaction between religious faith and social entrepreneurship, with serious consideration given to exploring the role of other Christian denominations or religious faiths in the emergence and development of social entrepreneurship in different African contexts.