The impact of entrepreneurship and small business activities in Africa has habitually been lower and receives less attention in research. This study aims at investigating the mediation role of innovations on the relationship between entrepreneurial ecosystem approach and productive entrepreneurship. Using panel dataset of 35 African countries, the study contributes to the existing literature in two ways. First, the panel regression findings contribute to the theoretical debate and fill the empirical gap, recent research has been dominated by conceptual works. The findings reveal mixed (positive and negative) and weak insignificant direct influence of eco-factors such as finance, government support and programmes, knowledge, market and culture on productive entrepreneurship. However, their influence is more pronounced when innovations mediate the relationship. Second, it provides new insight to policymakers and practitioners in developing policies and programmes that foster entrepreneurial ecosystems and improved innovation performance for better entrepreneurship development. It concludes with suggestions for future research.