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This study investigated the nature and operations of African migrant informal enterprises in Mandeni municipality. The study utilised a qualitative approach with an exploratory research design.  The participants were sampled using the purposive sampling and the semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from research participants who were African migrant informal enterprise owners. Thematic analysis was employed as a tool for data analysis.  The study established that African migrants own different informal enterprises in which they sell a variety of goods and most African migrants do not start businesses out of their own free will, rather, they do so in response to a lack of other alternatives, which makes starting a business appear to be the only possible option. These enterprises vary in size, scale, and operations.

Both developed and developing nations are seeing a growth in migrant enterprises and factors that contribute to the growth of migrant enterprises in various nations vary from one nation to another. This research study aimed to explore and seek an in-depth understanding of the factors influencing the growth of African migrant informal enterprises. The study utilised a qualitative approach with an exploratory research design.  The participants were sampled using purposive sampling and the semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from research participants who were African migrant informal enterprise owners. Thematic analysis was employed as a tool for data analysis. A major finding from this study is that many of the African migrant informal enterprises are linked to social networks and together with the different entrepreneurial strategies employed by African migrants have contributed to the growth of African migrant-owned informal enterprises. Furthermore, despite the growing attention on African migrant enterprises in the academic literature but majority of the studies have focused on big cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban therefore there is limited which has focused on smaller cities. Therefore, this study occupies that gap and investigated the factors influencing the growth of these African migrant informal enterprises in the Mandeni Local Municipality.