The post-genocide period in Rwanda has been characterised by a unique and rapid economic transformation, with the private sector positioned as a central agent of national recovery. However, the specific challenges faced by enterprises operating within this complex socio-political context, and their strategic responses, are not well documented in the behavioural business literature. This study aims to systematically identify and analyse the predominant challenges confronting businesses and to catalogue the adaptive strategies they have employed to ensure survival and growth during the nation's recovery. A stratified random sample of 450 registered small, medium, and large enterprises across Kigali and secondary cities participated in a structured survey. The instrument measured perceived operational constraints, strategic orientations, and behavioural adaptations using Likert-scale and open-response items. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics; qualitative data were thematically coded. Access to formal credit was identified as the most severe constraint, cited by 78% of respondents. A predominant strategic adaptation involved leveraging informal community-based trust networks for supply chain logistics and micro-finance. Behavioural analysis revealed a strong tendency towards risk-averse expansion and reinvestment of profits. Enterprise strategy in the studied context is fundamentally shaped by institutional voids and a legacy of social rupture, leading to hybrid formal-informal business models that prioritise social capital and internal financing. Policy should focus on de-risking formal credit mechanisms and recognising the role of social capital in business ecosystems. Enterprise support programmes should integrate behavioural insights to foster more effective strategic planning. post-conflict recovery, enterprise strategy, behavioural finance, institutional voids, adaptive management, Rwanda This paper provides the first comprehensive, longitudinal dataset mapping enterprise-level behavioural adaptations within a post-genocide African economy, offering a novel behavioural finance lens on institutional theory.
Uwimana Niyonsenga (Thu,) studied this question.
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