The Role of Entrepreneurship in Economic Development: The Nigerian Perspective

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to develop and analyse the contributions of entrepreneurship in the economic development through SME development in Nigeria.

A total of 100 SMEs were randomly selected from a cross section of a population of all SMEs spread around some states of Nigeria and covering virtually all forms of enterprise. Participants were selected through a simple random sampling. The responses to the questionnaires were complemented with personal interviews of some SMEs operators. The responses of the participants were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), which generated the frequency distributions, means, standard deviations, chi-square statistics, analyses of variance, etc of the responses.

The hypotheses of this research which were tested at 0.05 level of significance using chi-square statistics hinged on identifying the greatest problem which SMEs face in Nigeria, the identification and ranking of the top ten problems or challenges of SMEs in Nigeria and the relationship between the form and nature of the business enterprise and its sources of funding for its operations.

The major findings of this study include the following: SMEs have played and continue to play significant roles in the growth, development and industrialization of many economies the world over. In the case of Nigeria, SMEs have performed below expectation due to a combination of problems which ranges from attitude and habits of SMEs themselves through environmental related factors, instability of governments and frequent government policy changes etc. Promoters of SMEs should thus ensure the availability or possession of managerial capacity and acumen before pursuing financial resources for the development of the respective enterprise.

Keywords: key words Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Economic development