Entrepreneurial Mindset as Predictor of Resilience among Gambian Youth Entrepreneurs: The Mediating Role of Business Acumen and Business Persistence

Background/ problem: In fragile economies, such as The Gambia, young entrepreneurs face persistent structural and contextual challenges, limited financial access, institutional voids, cultural constraints, and underdeveloped infrastructure that threaten business survival. Traditional entrepreneurship models often overlook the behavioral and psychological capacities needed to thrive in such conditions.Objective/ purpose: Grounded in psychological capital theory, this study investigates how the psychological resources of hope, self-efficacy, and optimism interact with entrepreneurial traits, specifically business acumen and business persistence, to build resilience among young entrepreneurs in The Gambia.Design and Methodology: A quantitative approach was used, drawing on data from 203 entrepreneurs, aged 18-35 across Banjul City, Kanifing Municipality, and West Coast Region, The Gambia. PLS-SEM was applied to test the hypothesized model.Results: The entrepreneurial mindset significantly predicts resilience both directly (β = .55, p < .001) and indirectly via business acumen (β = .25, p < .001), indicating partial mediation. Business acumen also positively influences resilience (β = .40, p < .001) and business persistence (β = .51, p < .001). Although entrepreneurial mindset predicts business persistence (β = .33, p < .001), business persistence does not significantly affect resilience (β = .08, p = .26), and its mediating effect is unsupported (β = .01, p = .30).Conclusion and Implications: These findings contribute to behavioral science by empirically validating resilience as a behavioral outcome shaped by psychological and entrepreneurial traits. The study advances interdisciplinary understanding of youth entrepreneurship and informs behavioral policy design for fragile economies. Specifically, the results can be utilized by policymakers, entrepreneurship educators, and development organizations in contexts such as The Gambia to design targeted interventions that strengthen youth entrepreneurial resilience.