Sustainable Digital Entrepreneurship and Its Environmental and Social Value Impact in Western Kenya

Abstract

his research examines the structural characteristics of Sustainable Digital Entrepreneurship (SDE) business models, the deconstruction of digital technology configurations, and the assessment of stakeholders' ecosystem in the context of generating a dual environment and social value in Western Kenya. A mixed methods research design was used in which the data collected in the quantitative phase (a snowball sample of sustainable digital entrepreneurs = 30) were triangulated with the qualitative data obtained in the second phase of the study using semi-structured interviews = 18), analysed using NVivo -14. Descriptive results show that the founding of SDEs is mainly driven by the personal ethical values of entrepreneurs (85%). Low-barrier digital tools were found to be the key enabling technologies for localised operations, having the highest value-creation impact score at 4.8/5.0. A strong positive correlation and significance at p<0.01 are confirmed through inferential statistical analysis between the variables active sustainability tracking and overall business performance. In addition, the validated conceptual model shows that digital capabilities strongly mediate the link between SDE and value creation (r=0.61); community engagement has a strong influence on this link (r=0.55); and local institutional support also plays a strong role in this link (r=0.50). From the qualitative side, there were sharp structural conflicts: high infrastructure costs and access to impact-first, which makes it always necessary to balance financial survival with mission execution. The strategic implications of the study are that in rural African ecosystems, the techno architectures that have been built with less investment are better than those built with more, and that they are more accessible than they are capital-intensive. The results point to the need for policy and institutional measures at the local level that are conducive to a green digital economy and that provide new and specific funding mechanisms with a primary focus on impact.