Digital maturity and hybrid strategies in emerging markets: the structural limits of entrepreneurial transformation

Purpose This study examined the influence of digital maturity, technological adoption and environmental barriers on entrepreneurial performance within Nigeria’s diverse business landscape. By situating the technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework within conditions of institutional voids, the paper challenges assumptions of linear digital transformation and explores hybridity as an adaptive organizational equilibrium. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey of 553 entrepreneurs across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones was analyzed using ANOVA, chi-square tests and robustness diagnostics. The analysis examined the effects of digital maturity, digital tool adoption and systemic barriers on revenue generation, customer acquisition, operational efficiency and market expansion, while controlling for sectoral and locational differences to account for contextual heterogeneity. Findings Results demonstrate that advanced digital maturity and broad tool adoption significantly enhance performance outcomes, while infrastructural deficits, policy inconsistency and skill gaps act as structural determinants that constrain digital integration. Hybrid business models emerge as a pragmatic equilibrium in navigating institutional voids, especially in high-potential sectors such as fintech, edutech, agritech and healthtech. The findings reveal that maturity trajectories are nonlinear and often threshold-based, with effects stronger in urban regions, reflecting entrenched structural inequalities. Practical implications This research highlights the urgency of addressing infrastructural, policy and skills barriers to unlock the full potential of digital entrepreneurship. Policy interventions should prioritize reliable infrastructure, coherent regulation and advanced capacity building, while managers should pursue hybrid strategies to balance ambition with contextual realities. Originality/value This study advances digital entrepreneurship theory by reframing the TOE model through a structural lens, showing that environmental constraints are not passive conditions but active determinants of digital trajectories. It introduces hybridity as a theoretically significant equilibrium form in emerging markets and reconceptualizes digital maturity as nonlinear, contingent and threshold-based rather than sequential and linear.