Business acumen as a mediator between entrepreneurial mindset and resilience: Evidence from young entrepreneurs in The Gambia

Background: Entrepreneurial resilience is vital for sustaining businesses in fragile and resource-constrained environments, yet the cognitive and strategic pathways that foster it remain underexplored. Whilst the Psychological Capital (PsyCap) framework highlights traits such as hope, self-efficacy and optimism, recent perspectives suggest resilience is better understood as an outcome shaped by these traits and strategic capabilities. Aim: This study investigates how business acumen mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial mindset and resilience among youth entrepreneurs in The Gambia. Setting: The study was conducted in The Gambia, focusing on young entrepreneurs affiliated with national entrepreneurship institutions, operating in low-resource and high-uncertainty conditions. Methods: Using a cross-sectional quantitative survey, data were collected from 203 young entrepreneurs selected through stratified random sampling. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the hypothesised model, guided by the Resilient Entrepreneurial Mindset Integration (REMI) Model. Results: Entrepreneurial mindset significantly predicted both business acumen and resilience. Business acumen partially mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial mindset and resilience, with a Variance Accounted For (VAF) of 32.2% and an R2 of 0.749 for resilience. Conclusion: Entrepreneurial mindset directly influences resilience and indirectly does so via business acumen, confirming that mindset alone is insufficient without corresponding strategic capability. Contribution: The study reconceptualises resilience as an outcome rather than a trait within the PsyCap theory, validates a specific pathway in the REMI model, and provides actionable insights for entrepreneurship education and policy in fragile African entrepreneurial ecosystems.