Global Inclusive Business Development: Building a Future Collectively with Strong Digital and Social Pillars

This book explores how emerging economies can foster equitable, innovation-driven growth by integrating digital transformation, social responsibility, and inclusive business practices. As businesses face rapidly shifting global landscapes, inclusiveness has become essential for sustainable development. Strong digital pillars expand access to markets, information, and services, empowering underserved communities and enabling firms to innovate and compete. Equally, robust social pillars ensure that ethical practices, community engagement, and shared prosperity guide organizational decisionmaking. Featuring select contributions presented at the 6th Current Business Issues in African Countries (CBIAC) held virtually in April 2025, this volume examines the intersection of inclusive business strategies, SME resilience, financial innovation, and publicsector modernization across African contexts. Through empirical studies, conceptual models, and grounded case analyses, the chapters demonstrate how social, financial, and digital dimensions work together to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems and advance sustainable economic development. As a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, development practitioners, and business leaders, this book offers timely insights into building resilient economies centered on people, technology, and collaborative progress, contributing meaningfully to the global dialogue on inclusive and sustainable growth.

Shani D. Carter is the Associate Director of Assessment at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ). She also founded the Current Business Issues in African Countries Conference (CBIAC) in 2016 after attending the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Carter teaches courses in human resource management, organizational behavior, and leadership. Dr. Carter has published more than 40 articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings on human resources and assessment of student learning. Ioan David Legman received a Ph.D. in Engineering and Management at George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Targu-Mures. Dr. Legman teaches courses in Economics, Applied Economics, Entrepreneurship Education. Dr. Legman participated in several international conferences, having published several specialized articles. Leslye Kornegay is Executive Director of University Environmental Services at Duke University, USA, and a faculty member in the Graduate Program at Champlain College in Burlington, VT, USA. She is also the Founder of the Kornegay Foundation, a non-profit organization, and Owner of Kornegay Konsulting. During her leadership trajectory, she conducted her academic research on African American womens experience leading in Publicly White Institutions.