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The International Labor Organization (2020) estimates that eight out of ten enterprises (i.e. own-account workers and small economic units) are informal worldwide. However, less is known about the internationalization of informal enterprises. Here, it is argued that economic blocs, such as sub-Saharan Africa, with a greater proportion of informal enterprises, may provide broader societal legitimacy for them to operate internationally. Thus, informal firms would need to collaborate with other firms to overcome their resource constraints. Geographic colocation is one way to facilitate positive interfirm interactions that promote networking and subsequently cooperation. The purpose of this paper is, thus, to addresses two questions. Firstly, how and to what extent does interfirm marketing cooperation in geographic colocation influence the internationalization of micro and small informal manufacturing enterprises? Secondly, how do the perceived benefits of local external economies moderate this relationship?

The study draws evidence from 125 randomly selected informal enterprises located in two major clusters in Ghana, using a mixed-method approach.

The partial least square - structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis applied revealed two central points. Firstly, sharing marketing costs allows informal firms to upgrade their phases of export development directly. Secondly, the linkage of increasing sales activities and local external economies encourages the progress of the phases of export development and the scope of internationalization. Results confirm that the cluster benefits of interfirm cooperation and local external economies on the informal firm internationalization process complement each other in addition to their linear relationship.

The study contributes to understanding the nexus of the informal sector, geographic colocation and the entrepreneurial internationalization literature. The results should motivate researchers and policymakers to approach informal firm internationalization through collaborative business activities.

This study aims to conduct a systematic review of the existing literature on export promotion and foreign market entry strategies for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

This study incorporates systematic literature review by using bibliometric technique and content analysis of 195 scholarly papers published between 2000 and 2024 obtained from Scopus database, using the PRISMA principles and a methodological framework.

The use of quantitative analysis has shown dynamic patterns in publication trends, characterized by notable increases in recent years. These trends align with the changing dynamics of the global economy and shifting priorities in international commerce. The study reveals thematic frameworks using author collaboration analysis, word cloud visualizations and a thematic map, providing insights into a significant motor, niche and developing issues that shape the discussion on the international growth of SMEs.

It offers significant insights that can benefit academics, policymakers and practitioners who are interested in understanding and navigating the intricate terrain of export promotion and market access strategies specifically tailored for small firms.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first of a kind that presents a systematic examination of the existing body of knowledge on the internationalization of SMEs.

In 1899 the medical practitioners of Dublin were confronted with an outbreak of a peculiar and obscure illness, characterised by symptoms which were very unusual. For want of a better explanation, the disorder, which seemed to be epidemic, was explained by the simple expedient of finding a name for it. It was labelled as “beri‐beri,” a tropical disease with very much the same clinical and pathological features as those observed at Dublin. Papers were read before certain societies, and then as the cases gradually diminished in number, the subject lost interest and was dropped.