Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore innovation capability and its effect on internationalisation of small low-tech herbal manufacturing firms, thereby also contributing to theory development in the subject area. 

Design/methodology/approach: A single case study method is adopted to explore the process of innovation capability of low-tech manufacturing for internationalisation process. 

Findings: Our result indicates that in low-tech herbal manufacturing innovation capability has been crucial for the company’s internationalization. The uniqueness of the products is derived from mutual learning, collaboration, most importantly team work pertaining in the organisation. The findings in this study support the notion that the development of innovation capability in a natural resource-based sector could be pursued as a strategy for internationalisation in countries like Ghana. 

Research limitations/implications: 

In this study we attempted to examine low-tech manufacturing firms’ innovation capability and how it affects internationalisation. Our study, like any study, suffers from some limitations. First, the data is based on a single firm. Ideally we would like to include data from few more firms. However, getting data from innovative companies is a difficult task. Future research may consider multiple case studies within the same sector or across different sectors. 

Originality/Value: Although the research field of innovation capability is growing lately, few attempts have been made to explore innovation capability and its effect on internationalisation process of low-tech manufacturing firms.