Abstract
Purpose:
This systematic review examines how leadership behaviour shapes employee conduct within regulatory grey zones in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) banking sector. As fintech innovation and mobile money ecosystems increasingly outpace formal legislative frameworks, organisational leaders are required to operate at the “edges of policy,” where institutional ambiguity and incomplete regulatory guidance prevail. The study investigates how leadership functions as an internal governance mechanism in environments characterised by institutional voids.
Design/methodology/approach:
Following PRISMA-informed systematic review procedures, this study synthesises 142 peer-reviewed articles published between 2018 and 2025 across major academic databases. Drawing on Institutional Theory, Sensemaking Theory, and Ambidextrous Leadership Theory, the review integrates macro-level institutional pressures with meso- and micro-level leadership practices to develop a conceptual framework of leadership-mediated governance under regulatory ambiguity.
Findings:
The analysis indicates that in the absence of clear regulatory frameworks, leadership sensemaking and moral judgement operate as primary governance surrogates. Leaders translate ambiguous regulatory signals into actionable organisational norms, reducing employee role ambiguity and mitigating risk-taking behaviour in fintech-driven environments. Ambidextrous leadership behaviours that simultaneously support innovation and enforce ethical constraints were found to be critical in managing employee moral distress and sustaining financial stability within regulatory grey zones.
Originality/value:
This review advances leadership and finance scholarship by conceptualising leadership as a substitute for formal regulatory mechanisms in emerging financial markets. By integrating institutional voids theory with ambidextrous leadership within the SSA banking context, the study offers a novel behavioural-institutional perspective on how internal leadership practices stabilise organisational conduct at the peripheries of formal policy.
Keywords:
Institutional voids; Ambidextrous leadership; Sensemaking; Regulatory grey zones; Fintech governance; Sub-Saharan Africa banking.