Abstract
Despite the dominance of microenterprises in Africa’s emerging economies, limited research explores the motivations behind informal sector entrepreneurship. This study investigates the drivers of informal microentrepreneurship and the role of social capital in establishing and sustaining microenterprises. Grounded in self-affirmation theory, Nigeria was selected as the study context. Using semi-structured interviews with 52 microenterprise owners, findings reveal that informal entrepreneurship is largely necessity-driven, emerging from limited employment alternatives and driven by survival and subsistence needs. Furthermore, social capital - through personal networks, family embeddedness, and trust-based relationships - plays a crucial role in business creation and sustainability. Policy recommendations for African governments include reducing the costs of formal business operations to encourage legal enterprise registration. Additionally, individuals in resource-constrained environments should actively cultivate strong personal and social networks to facilitate entrepreneurial success.