This dissertation consists of three essays which investigate the internationalization of firms in less developed economies (LDEs), with a special focus on institutional factors and business group affiliation (BGA), as well as a study of the firms’ non-market strategies in LDEs. The research setting is Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The unique contribution of my thesis is to more deeply explore the research agenda articulated by George and his colleagues (2016) in focusing on a prevalent and understudied organizational form in the region. BGs are widely viewed in the literature as a mechanism for closing institutional voids, developing their affiliates’ capabilities through resource provision, and enabling opportunities by raising their capacities to reach international markets. I examine ethnicity as a primary axis of solidarity among BGs in SSA, and address the question of their competitive advantage from the perspective of solidarity. Lastly, the thesis seeks to contribute to the debate around the dominant non-market strategies of SSA’s firms, contribution to public projects, and bribery, by drawing attention to resource dependency theory. In this study, I also examine the influence of business group affiliation on non-market strategies, and their linkage.