ENTREPRENEURIAL COACHING: CONTRIBUTING TO THE PERFORMANCE AND CURBING THE OBSTACLES TO INNOVATION OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN AFRICA

Introduction: Innovation is a catalyst for business development, particularly for small businesses. However, the majority of African SMEs fail to adopt an innovation strategy. Aim: The aim of this work is to analyze the obstacles to innovation in an African context, with an analysis of the importance of the entrepreneurial support variable. Method: The method used in this work is a quantitative analysis by questionnaire. Our sample consists of 120 African small and medium-sized enterprises. Data analysis will be carried out using multiple linear regressions. Contributions : The contribution of this article is the analysis of the entrepreneurial support variable for innovation adoption. Results: The results of our paper, using multiple linear regressions, show the importance of the potential customer variable for investment in innovation. Entrepreneurial support, and specifically network integration, provides financial capacity, access to markets and administrative facilities, variables that are positively correlated with the adoption of an innovation strategy.


INTRODUCTION
Small and medium-sized enterprises contribute significantly to economic growth and competitiveness.Globalization, however, has forced this category to adjust to new markets and to technological and organizational capacities for innovation.Entrepreneurial coaching has developed in recent years as a determinant of sustainable performance and innovation.Because it is seen as a pillar of economic development.In addition to being a lever for wealth creation and competitive advantage, it is also an area of concern for all researchers (44).
Scientific reviews have focused on innovation barriers, which are linked to innovation costs, risks of uncertainty, appropriation of results, financing and information asymmetry, particularly in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises (64).The barriers to innovation approach is based on a study of the nature, origin, impact and consequences of barriers on the innovation process.The approach also aims to study the actions implemented by state institutions, and the corrective measures taken to overcome obstacles.
Small and medium-sized enterprises, characterized by their small size, are subject to a wide range of constraints: workforce skills, commercial capacity, R&D investment difficulties, outdated technology (77).And in the African context, in addition to these constraints, small businesses are weakened by a number of shortcomings, including a lack of entrepreneurial skills to carry out innovative projects (76).
The entrepreneurial phenomenon is a dynamic learning process that generates the individual and collective skills needed for performance.The aim of entrepreneurial coaching is to provide useful potential in the business world (62).Recently, entrepreneurial coaching has emerged as a topic of increasing interest to researchers (52).Authors (52) have defined the coaching process as the development of entrepreneurs' behavioral skills.Some research on coaching is already based on qualitative analyses to define the determinants of entrepreneurial growth ( 14), but research on the influence of coaching on performance and innovation remains limited, particularly in Africa.

OVERVIEW OF INNOVATION ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT
The African continent has undergone a panoply of political and socio-economic changes.
The constraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic have driven thinking towards new development models geared towards innovation, as well as investment in research and development.Governments need to make efforts in the areas of training, red tape and the responsiveness of support programs.For technology SMEs, the support they receive must be more focused on technology absorption.Moreover, one of the challenges facing governments is to reduce business uncertainty with regard to the macro-economic framework, particularly in terms of taxation and regulation.
Entrepreneurial coaching stems from organizational theories and the systemic conception of the company (52), and helps to foster the development environment and improve productivity (52).Coaching enables individuals to optimize their assets, and implement an action plan (14 ,16).
Coaching is part of an asymmetrical relationship, transferring know-how or interpersonal skills to Scientific journals explain how coaching ensures the development of autonomy, self-awareness, autonomous learning and the ability to be accountable for one's actions" ( 14).An analysis of the scientific literature shows that coaching has a significant impact on companies in the fields of management, leadership and strategic management.Coaching helps managers in difficulty to develop their skills (52), questioning their choices by analyzing their ideas, priorities and methods (52).In this way, coaching helps to keep people thinking and anticipating (52).It can also help companies manage change (52).The resources required for innovation, as presented in the literature, are diverse: human resources, financial resources, technological resources, information resources and collaborative strategies.
Some authors state that a large number of human resources characterizes innovative companies.Others argue that skilled personnel apply the ideas and knowledge required for invention and innovation.
Financial resources are also important factors in the acquisition of many other resources.
They play a major role in a company's innovation strategy.Insufficient financial capacity is considered a major obstacle to innovation investment (23).Technological resources are a necessary part of an innovation strategy.They include the production equipment, machines, processes, tools, patents and know-how needed to achieve superior production quality.
Information resources allow companies to seize and exploit international business opportunities.Scientific studies (75) identify three types of information resources: technological, commercial and strategic (competitive (54), reputation and the quality of products and services offered.

STRATEGY
Once entrepreneurs have successfully started out, they must quickly prove their effectiveness in terms of business development and performance.Indeed, the creator will continue to qualify as an entrepreneur as longs as he remains focused on performance.Performance is linked to the ability to initiate and innovate ( 22).
The definition of the concept of innovation within the company relates to the incorporation of new tools, equipment and task specifications into the operational process of products and services.It involves the appropriate use of technology and knowledge (27).
Innovation is a competitive advantage, helping to maintain market position and transform threats into opportunities.The accelerating pace of new technology development and intense competition requires companies to invest in the innovation process in order to secure competitive advantage, by creatively creating the most marketable products (57).Sustainable competitive advantage through innovation requires the financial, human, physical and organizational resources needed for performance.The professional network also has an important role to be played in commercializing the results of innovation.Through integration into professional networks, the entrepreneur acquires generic skills, new ideas for innovation leadership, technical skills and cognitive skills, which are enriched through learning.
The professional network enables SMEs to progress by improving productivity, sustainability and marketing criteria.The innovation network enables the development of the cognitive capacities of all parties involved in the process through learning and experience (74).
Team coaching is an action-oriented process for SMEs, based on the transfer of knowledge, improvement of the team's innovation capabilities, and decision-making dynamics (1).
Team coaching enables the collaborative creation of knowledge, based on the development of creativity, self-directed learning, the exploration of opportunities and the analysis of alternatives (43).
Coaching provides the continuous learning framework, developing intellectual capital for innovation.The organization must therefore create a favorable environment for the generation of innovative ideas, the entrepreneurial dynamics of innovative projects and a strong leadership vision ( 4).
Singh's analysis is based on the study of the relationship between survival and technological complexity.Technological complexity is the adoption of systems that require a multitude of interactions.
The results of the analysis demonstrated the influence of the level of technological complexity on the possibility of survival.The risk of complexity can be moderated by recourse to cooperation with other companies.Companies characterized by technological weakness encounter fewer difficulties than those that have adopted technologies characterized by greater complexity.
Audretsch's research, based on ten years' observation, shows the link between technological regime and survival rate.The technological regime was studied taking into account industry concentration variables and the level of capital intensity.

HYPOTHESIS 1 (H1) INNOVATION STRATEGY IS AFFECTED BY INTRINSIC FACTORS, AS WELL AS EXTRINSIC VARIABLES
In the majority of cases, the failure of innovation strategy in small and medium-sized companies is due to the unsuitability of strategic decisions to the company's development environment (18).
Organizational innovation is the application of management practices and processes to achieve new organizational objectives (21).These innovations are often incremental, and include new management tools and marketing methods.It is a broad concept that includes structural (efficiency and production), behavioral (human resources) and strategic (product/service quality) dimensions (46).However, in addition to the variables of entrepreneurial traits, enterprise and management modes, the context of enterprise development and the characteristics of the environment and its evolution influence innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises.The institutional environment has an impact on the business environment and company strategies (46).A company's aspirations are not only linked to the economic factor of profit maximization, but also to the personal objectives of its manager (1).Studies in the 2000s introduced the dimensions of satisfaction, resilience and stress management to entrepreneurial motivations, particularly in the case of innovative projects involving a higher degree of risk.
Organizational innovation includes market-oriented management (customer orientation, competitor orientation and cross-functional coordination), organizational learning (commitment to learning, open-mindedness and shared vision).
Organizational coaching can influence innovation through strategic development, positioning and credibility enhancement (10).Moreover, organizational coaching enables coachees to discover their potential, gain reflexivity and ultimately accelerate the learning process.
Other authors have shown that coaching also promotes strategic awareness (62).
Coaching is a form of support that improves self-confidence ( 14).The aim of this type of support is to make decisions easier to take (14).In fact, effective coaching enables the coachees to develop their innovative projects, in particular by supporting; development of the self, the manager's role, the profession, the social capital and the culture of innovation.
An organization's culture is the set of standard behaviors and representations that members share.It is the key management tool that enables the organization's members to act independently and coherently.The part of organizational culture linked to innovation is called innovation culture.
The culture of innovation is based on five dimensions: innovative management, promotion of innovative teams, development of an organizational context that favors innovation, and the building of external links.
The variables that affect the dimensions of innovation culture are strategy (vision, mission, and means of achieving objectives), structure (flexibility, cooperation, and group integration), support mechanisms (recognition, loyalty) and behaviours that promote innovation (idea generation, risk optimization), and communication (intra-organizational communication, open communication, information sharing).

HYPOTHESIS 3 (H3) NETWORK INNOVATION HAS A POSITIVE EFFECT ON NETWORK MEMBERS' ACCESS TO RESOURCES AND PERFORMANCE
Due to difficulties in accessing information ( 16), decision-making is closely linked to the ability to exploit available information.Lack of time, staff qualifications and experience are factors that influence this information bias ( 16).These factors, in addition to the entrepreneur's beliefs, can lead to biased decisions (1), which in turn can have a disproportionate impact on the innovative company, sometimes putting its survival at stake.
Discussions with network members about critical events facilitate the entrepreneur's learning process.The entrepreneur's learning potential grows through the network, as well as motivation, because of the close connection between learning and practical application (40).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Our methodology is a quantitative analysis.The data collection technique is a survey.The target population is small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa.The criteria is the number of employees, with a maximum of 250.
The sampling method adopted is probability sampling, by randomly drawing SMEs/SMIs.
This research was conducted from April to September 2023.The survey was conducted using a questionnaire via Sphinx.The current study uses a Likert scale.Our sample is made up of 120 African SMEs.
Our methodology is a quantitative analysis.The data collection technique is a survey.The target population is small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa.The criteria is the number of employees, with a maximum of 250.
The sampling method adopted is probability sampling, by randomly drawing SMEs/SMIs.This research was conducted from April to September 2023.The survey was conducted using a questionnaire via Sphinx.The current study uses a Likert scale.The method used in this study is cross-analysis.Table 1 describes the variables involved in the study.Takes the value 1 if the company had potential customers before its creation.

COUNTRY
The country in which the company is based FINANCING CAPACITIES Takes the value 1 if the company's financing capacity for innovation activities is between 50 and 100% and 0 otherwise.

MARKET INTEGRATION
Takes the value 1 if the company's percentage of integration in new markets is between 50 and 100% and 0 otherwise.ADMINISTRATIVE FACILITIES Takes the value 1 if the proportion of facilities for administrative procedures for introducing innovation is between 50 and 100% and 0 otherwise.Source: produced by the authors 2023

Intrinsic Obstacles to Innovation in Africa
According to the survey carried out, and after presenting companies with a list of the difficulties most frequently encountered in developing an innovation strategy.It is clear that the difficulties vary according to the sector of activity.But they are as follows: strategic management, financial management, as research and development requires high costs, marketing and sales problems, finding potential customers, stress management, self-control, risk perception, decisionmaking, gathering information on the environment and the competition, finding customers, contacting suppliers, and finally recruiting qualified human resources.The manager's experience plays a role in the management aspect of the business, with a relationship approved between business innovation and experience by 65% of respondents.The most innovative sectors in Africa are industry, services and construction, with 39.16% and 29.16% respectively.Gender is a variable that affects innovation, insofar as men account for 61% of innovative projects in the research sectors.The factor of potential customers conditions the success of innovative projects, as 70% of projects are characterized by the existence of potential customers during the pre-creation phase.Innovation in Africa in the sectors studied requires the use of production partnerships for 85.83% of projects, and design and development partnerships for 89% of projects.The time of market entry has an impact on the sustainability of 76% of innovative projects in Africa.
The regression results show that among the proposed internal variables, the outcome of the innovation strategy depends on potential customers.Innovation is a strategy adopted by 53% of African companies, the resulting performance of the adoption of an innovative strategy is 87%.The obstacles to innovation in Africa can come from either internal or external sources.The costs of innovation represent a heavy handicap for investment in innovation at 79%.The absence of innovation support accounts for 65%, but based on a cross-tabulation of the impact of support experience on innovation adoption, the relationship was endorsed by only 21% of projects.Companies in Africa generally face difficulties in financing innovation (78%), market integration difficulties (51%), and finally administrative difficulties in adopting innovation (57%).

INNOVATION STRATEGY: ENTREPRENEURIAL SUPPORT
The failure of organizational innovation strategy is caused in the majority of cases by financial capacity, the imbalance between revenues and expenses, insolvency and the lack of liquidity to finance innovation.The failure can materialize in the deterioration of the company's internal, accounting and financial resources as a result of the enormous costs of investment in innovation and research and development.
The gaps in the organizational innovation strategy presented are linked to the inability to finance the activity, the difficulty of marketing products, and the costs of acquiring qualified personnel and modern tools and materials.
In addition to analyzing the costs of innovation, we also need to analyze it as a peoplefocused approach.In fact, the success of the innovation strategy depends on the sense of satisfaction or dissatisfaction that arises from the difference between expectations and initial aspirations.The determinants of success are also linked to the entrepreneur's skills in managerial practice, creativity and leadership.The failure of an innovative approach is judged on the basis of personal disappointment following non-compliance with expectations.
Entrepreneurs involved in innovation coaching complain that the training they receive is ill-suited to their needs, suggesting a trend towards an individualized process for the effective development of entrepreneurial qualities (28).Entrepreneurial innovation therefore requires access to a coaching process that helps build an innovative mindset and positive psychological capital.
Weak points encountered when adopting an innovation strategy include team management, lack of motivation, commitment, self-confidence, emotional management, and finally stress management (regret, depression, fear) in the face of an inability to pay for the expenses of innovation.
The results of the multiple linear regression show that, despite the importance of innovation costs, companies can control them.However, the variable of entrepreneurial support and its impact on innovation strategy are of major importance.Network innovation provides access to information on the environment, the competition, contacts with suppliers and the search for potential customers.Entrepreneurial coaching helps companies accumulate knowledge and gain access to experience-sharing networks and funding.
The network is a source of market access opportunities, making it possible to secure commercial contracts, set up efficient distribution channels and market products through "wordof-mouth" (60).
Network innovation is therefore a highly valuable resource, if properly exploited.In fact, it can help strengthen skills, identify opportunities, and acquire capabilities, information and resources useful for the innovation strategy.
Analysis of networked innovation remains weak in Africa, with innovative companies having access to only 14.9% of administrative facilities, 62.7% of financing and 76.1% of market integration.
The results of the multiple linear regression show a positive correlation between the innovation variables financapacities, market integration administrative facilities, innovcoast, entrepsupport however a negative correlation was approved between the variables supply and   The results of the multiple linear regression show negative correlations between company performance, financapacities, marketintegration, administrative facilities, and entresupport.In fact, as a company develops and performs, its financial capacities decline, market integration and administrative facilities are variables offered in the pre-creation period.However, a positive correlation has been approved between company performance and partnerships in supply,  The results of a questionnaire administered to 300 entrepreneurs (59) confirm our findings.
Twelve entrepreneurial skills were identified as factors in business performance: opportunity identification, strategic vision, time management, business network management, financial management, marketing management, operations management, human resources, laws and regulations, and finally, negotiating deals and making decisions.This study can be summarized in five capabilities required for successful innovation: cognitive, organizational, decision-making, technical, and finally, opportunity identification and implementation.
The scientific results in the subject (39) have developed that the only way to improve the innovation process is to overcome the independent barriers: financial barriers, lack of qualified personnel and the perception of innovation as a "risky" activity.
Innovation and company performance also depend on other criteria, according to research studies (73) on 238 firms, the economic environment of companies appears to be a non-negligible contextual variable in the analysis of the link between innovation and performance.According to a study of 433 Walloon and Brussels VSEs and SMEs (10), size has little impact on innovation and/or performance, sector of activity has an impact on innovation and/or performance, company type has an impact on innovation (non-family-owned, family-owned), and the geographical origin of company sales has an impact on innovation and company performance.The study shows that these two variables do not necessarily correlate, and that taking context into account is extremely important in managing innovation and performance.( 10) The study of barriers to innovation in Malaysian companies (58) identified nine obstacles to innovation (cost of innovation, economic risks, lack of financing sources, lack of market information, lack of information on technology, lack of qualified personnel, rigidity of legislation, regulation and organization).
In the Turkish model, (30) entrepreneurs who know how to innovate are those who have a better perception of the obstacles to innovation.The absence of government support, the lack of strong R&D, the presence of an informal economy, the high cost of innovation, the lack of 2 appropriate sources of financing, the lack of qualified personnel, have a negative and significant effect on the propensity for innovation in Turkish companies.
The contribution of this article is the analysis of the entrepreneurial support variable, a factor neglected by the studies already cited.The results of our paper, using multiple linear regressions, show the importance of the potential customer variable for investment in innovation.
Entrepreneurial support, and specifically network integration, provides financial capacity, access to markets and administrative facilities, variables that are positively correlated with the adoption of an innovation strategy.The gaps in this research concern the inability to analyze the subject in all African countries, due to the rejection of responses.In fact, out of 220 companies that received our questionnaire, we only received 120 responses.
Morocco, for example, according to the Global Innovation Index report produced by Cornell University, INSEAD (European Institute of Business Administration), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, a specialized agency of the United Nations), ranked 74th in 2018 for innovation.The ranking is based on an average score in the innovation areas: institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market improvement, business improvement, economic improvement, technology and knowledge outcomes, and innovation outcomes.Morocco achieves an average score for Institutions, Infrastructure and Market Enhancement.On the upside, it scores low on Human Capital and Research, Business Perfection, Technology and Knowledge Outcomes, and Innovation Outcomes.These results are confirmed by another report on country competitiveness.The results of "The Global Competitiveness Report" (2019) also showed that Morocco is ranked 75th.It has a lag on several factors innovation capacity (81st place), skills and human resources (111th place) and skills absorption (learning new knowhow) the 97th position.These observations highlight the efforts that still need to be made in Africa to develop innovation.These include the need to invest in human capital, training and research, to improve the level of knowledge and skills in general, and technical skills in particular, in order to raise the level of innovation.and Medium Enterprises in Africa ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-30 | e05935 | 2024.4 Consequently, this work proposes a study of the obstacles to innovation and the importance of entrepreneurial support.The aim of this article is to analyze the obstacles to innovation and the importance of entrepreneurial support through multiple linear regressions.

Figure 1
Figure 1Research and development expenditure Middle East and North Africa, South Africa, Central Africain republic, Sub Saharan Africa, The worldBank (2023)

Figure 2
Figure 2Presentation of the Global Innovation Index (0-100) for African countries

Entrepreneurial Coaching :
Contributing to The Performance and Curbing the Obstacles to Innovation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-30 | e05935 | 2024.8 Innovation is the organizational capacity to mobilize resources (relationships within the network, individual creativity, information, technologies, financial resources) and their combination through management processes.Scientific journals dealing with innovation barriers (33) have classified innovation barriers into financial barriers, marketing barriers, human barriers, cost barriers and market knowledge barriers.Other works have presented a further classification of financial barriers, risk-related barriers, organizational skills barriers, and legal barriers.Also marketing barriers such as customer orientation, customer contact and marketing intelligence.Research on innovation defines innovation as a specific corporate function, and a condition for value creation (33).It is the driving force behind entrepreneurship, the creation of new ideas, goods and services.Innovation can lead to the creation of a different organization, proposing new ways of managing, distributing and selling.The causes of weak performance may be linked to a lack of commitment to innovation activities (53).When the project develops, the entrepreneur is faced with issues of staff training, technology refinement, offer quality, market targeting, distribution and, finally, the acquisition of new knowledge.The determining variables in innovation (50) are related to managerial skills (28), the entrepreneur's methodological skills and know-how, the level of qualification and training of employees, adoption of quality management systems, investment in research, response to customer needs, and competitiveness.
Entrepreneurial Coaching: Contributing to The Performance and Curbing the Obstacles to Innovation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-30 | e05935 | 2024.10 The hostile environment is characterized by competitiveness in terms of access to resources, as well as by the presence of negative signals regarding innovation and business performance, due to inflation, competitive pressure and regulation.2.5 HYPOTHESIS 2 (H2) INNOVATION STRATEGY AND CULTURE IMPACT CORPORATE PERFORMANCE.
1 if the company has introduced a product, service or process innovation in the last 3 years.INNOVCOAST Takes the value 1 if the costs of financing the innovation strategy prevent the company from investing in innovation, and 0 otherwise.(Costs of innovation, financing, staff qualification and product marketing).PERFORMANCE Assumes a value of 1 if the company has developed personal, economic or social performance over the last 3 years, otherwise 0. AGE Number of years in business NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES Number of employees within the company.SECTOR OF ACTIVITY Company's sector of activity MANAGER's EXPERIENCE Assumes a value of 1 if the manager is experienced, 0 otherwise.MANAGER'S GENDER Male or Female POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS innovation by small and medium-sized enterprises are diverse and related to Information and knowledge barriers: Lack of access to technology knowledge, lack of returns on R&D investments.Financial barriers: lack of funding sources, high cost of investment in innovation, difficulty in accessing external funding.Market barriers: difficulties in accessing information about competitors, potential customers, skilled human resources, uncertainty about demand and customer responsiveness to innovative offerings.External obstacles: fierce competition from large companies, inflexible government policies to support innovation, legal and technical difficulties, informality, difficulties accessing infrastructure(transport, electricity, telephone, land, Internet).In fact, after categorizing the difficulties, the difficulties hindering the success of innovative projects are, firstly, of a financial nature: they are obstacles to the organizational, legal and technical development of innovative projects.In second position, the obstacles to the success of innovative projects are personal and managerial difficulties linked to the behavior, psychological state and emotions of the creators.

Entrepreneurial Coaching :
Contributing to The Performance and Curbing the Obstacles to Innovation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-30 | e05935 | 2024.16 Lastly, difficulties in accessing knowledge, contacts with suppliers and the search for potential customers rank as the final difficulties production partnership and research and development partnership, justified by the adoption of the innovation strategy after the mastery of production, supply and research and development activities.Innovation is therefore a function of market access and administrative facilities.

Entrepreneurial Coaching :
Contributing to The Performance and Curbing the Obstacles to Innovation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-30 | e05935 | 2024. 1 5 CONCLUSION Business innovation in Africa depends on two types of variables, intrinsic and extrinsic.Intrinsic variables include experience, gender, manager satisfaction, potential customers and innovation cost management.Extrinsic variables included timing of market entry, administrative and financial facilities, and market integration.
Performance requires the development of entrepreneurial skills.Competencies refer to the various resources -knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills -that are required to resolve a complex situation (31).Research into competencies has shown that they performance.Performance is the company's ability to provide entrepreneurs with financial security, independence, autonomy and quality of life (45), and is measured by customer loyalty

Table 2
Presentation of the frequencies of the variables studied Contributing to The Performance and Curbing the Obstacles to Innovation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.1 | p.1-30 | e05935 | 2024.

Table 3
Multiple linear regression of internal variables and innovation

Table 4
Multiple linear regression of internal variables and innovation

Table 5
Presentation of extrinsic barriers to innovation in Africa

Table 6
Multiple linear regression between innovation costs, innovation strategy and entrepreneurial support

Table 7
Multiple linear regression between innovation costs, innovation strategy and entrepreneurial

Table 8
Multiple regression of variables of network and Innovation

Table 9
Multiple regression of variables of network and Innovation

Table 11
Multiple regression of variables of network and Performance