Small Business Activities And Economic Development In Nigeria. (A Case Study Of Comestar Company, Agbara)

Small Business Activities And Economic Development In Nigeria. (A Case Study Of Comestar Company, Agbara)

ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to investigate Small and Medium Enterprises as a veritable tool in Economic Growth and Development. Data was collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed with several descriptive statistics to identify the perception of the roles of SMEs in Nigeria. The results of the study therefore reveals that the most common constraints hindering small and medium scale business growth in Nigeria are lack of financial support, poor management, corruption, lack of training and experience, poor infrastructure, insufficient profits, and low demand for product and services. Hence, it therefore recommends that Government should as matter of urgency assist prospective entrepreneurs to have access to finance and necessary information relating to business opportunities, modern technology, raw materials, market, plant and machinery which would enable them to reduce their operating cost and be more efficient to meet the market competitions. That job creation is a most challenges facing the world today. Job creation is a function of mental ability of individual entrepreneur to know how to manage their opportunity. Any country where there is no entrepreneur, the citizens suffer poverty and wants this is because nobody wants to use his or her own brain to think of doing something new to affect the community and the world at large. In any giving economy, entrepreneurship development always give birth to job creation which will force people to do something that will better their lives and the country at large. The paper addresses the following objectives: to examine impact of entrepreneurship on job creation in Nigeria, to establish the facts that job creation in Nigeria can be as a result of entrepreneurship development, to evaluate the relationship between job creation and entrepreneurship development in Nigeria and to define how entrepreneurship development can influence job creation in Nigeria.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE PAGE

CERTIFICATION

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

 

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1.3       OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

1.6       HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

1.7       SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

1.8       HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

1.9       DEFINATION OF TERMS USED

 

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0       INTRODUCTION

2.1       SMALL SCALE BUSINESS

2.2       AVENUE FOR DEVELOPING ENTERPRENUER SKILLS

2.3     PROCESS AND OBJECTIVES OF ENTERPRENUERSHIP

2.4     DEFINATION OF ENTERPRENUERSHIP

2.5     PROBLEMS OF ENTERPRENEURSHIP

2.6     TYPES OF ENTERPRENUERSHIP

2.7     YOUTH UNEMPLOYEMENT

2.8     CAUSES OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYEMENT

2.9     ATTEMPT AT CURBING YOUTH UNEMPLOYEMENT

2.10   CONCEPT OF YOUTH EMPLOYEMNT

2.11   EFFECT OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYEMENT

2.12   PROBLEMS OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYEMENT

2.14   PROGRAMME OF ENTERPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA

2.15   ROLES OF CAREER GUIDANCE IN REDUCING YOUTH EMPLOYEMENT

 

CHAPTER THREE

3.0       RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1       TYPES AND METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

3.2            THE STUDY POPULATION

3.3       RESEARCH DESIGN

3.4       DETERMINATION OF SAMPLE SIZE

3.5       METHOD OF PROCESSING DATA

3.6       RESEARCH INSTRUMENT SPECIFICATION

 

CHAPTER FOUR                          

4.0       DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF RESULT

4.1       INTRODUCTION

4.2       ANALYSIS OF RESPONSE

4.3       PRESENTATION OF DATA

4.4       HYPOTHESIS TESTING

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0       SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1       SUMMARY

5.2       CONCLUSION

5.3       RECOMMENDATION

REFERENCES

QUESTIONNAIRE

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The role of Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) in the national economy cannot be underestimated. These enterprises are being given increasing policy attention in recent years, particularly in third world countries partly because of growing disappointment with results of development strategies focusing on large scale capital intensive and high import dependent industrial plants. The impact of SMEs is felt in the following ways: Greater utilization of local raw materials, employment generation, encouragement of rural development, development of entrepreneurship, mobilization of local savings, linkages with bigger industries, provision of regional balance by spreading investments more evenly, provision of avenue for self-employment and provision of opportunity for training managers and semi-skilled workers. The vast majority of developed and developing countries rely on dynamism, resourcefulness and risk tasking of small and medium enterprises to trigger and sustain process of economic growth. In overall economic development, a critically important role is played by the small and medium enterprises. Small and medium enterprises advocates, firstly, it endurance competition and entrepreneurship and hence have external benefits on economy wide    efficient,   and productivity growth. At this level, perspectives are directed towards government support and involvement in exploiting countries social benefits from greater completion and entrepreneurship. Secondly, proponents of SME support frequent claim that SMEs are generally more productive than large firms but financial market and other institutional improvements, direct government financial support to SMEs can boost economic growth and development. Some argued that SMEs expansion boosts employment more than large firm growth because SMEs are more labour intensive thereby subsidizing SMEs may represent a poverty alleviation tools, by promoting SMEs and individual countries and the international community at large can make progress towards the main goal of halving poverty level by year 2020 i.e to reduce poverty by half and becoming among 20 largest World Economies (Nigeria Vision 20:2020). Entrepreneurial development is therefore important in the Nigeria economy which is characterized by the following heavy dependence on oil, low agricultural production, and high unemployment, low utilization of industrial capacity, high inflation rate, and lack of industrial infrastructural base. These constraints limit the rate of growth of entrepreneurial activities in Nigeria. Hence, this paper seeks to investigate Small and Medium Enterprises as a veritable tool in Economic Growth and Development.

1.2     STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The Nigerian economy since the attainment of political independence in 1960 has undergone fundamental structural changes resulting to structural shifts which have however not resulted in any significant sustainable economic growth and development to ensure adequate employment opportunity for her youths. Recently, available data show that the Nigerian economy grew relatively in the greater parts of the 1970s, with respect to the oil boom of the 1970s whose extreme profits resulted to wasteful expenditures in the public sector leading to dislocation of the employment factors and also distorted the revenue bases for policy planning. This among many other crises resulted in the introduction of the structural adjustment programme (SAP) in 1986 and the recent economic reforms. The core objective of the economic structural reform is a total restructuring of the Nigerian economy in the face of population explosion (Douglason et al, 2006).

This paper seeks to explore the relationship between small as a platform toward reducing youth unemployment and the promotion of socio-economic growth and development in Nigeria. Specifically, it assesses past government efforts aimed at reducing unemployment, as well as examine the major factors/constraints that hinder entrepreneurship. It concludes by proposing some strategies that can promote effective entrepreneurship culture.

1.3     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objective of this study can be stated as follows:

1. To specifically determine the influence of small business enterprise operation and the growth of Nigerian economy.
2. To determine the influence of small business enterprise activities on employment generation.
3. To examine the effects of small business enterprise activities on developing entrprenuers in Nigeria.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The questions for this research are

• Can small scale reduce unemployment in our society?
• Can government eradicate unemployment in our society?

1.5     STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES

Ho:    Small business cannot reduce unemployment in our society.

Hi:     Small business can reduce unemployment in our society.

Ho:    Government cannot eradicate unemployment in our society.

Hi:     Government can eradicate unemployment in our society.

1.6     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of this research work is to evaluate and analysis the role of small scale business in the economic development of ogun state. It is hoped that it would contribute to the promotion of the existing frontier or boundary between human knowledge.

1.7     SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study will be limited to the role, which the entrepreneurs play in manpower development in Nigeria. The research work will be so limited because of the limited availability of data and time.

1.8     THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Cometstar group of company was established in Nigeria on the 25^th of February, 2005 under Company Allied Matter Act 1990 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Our company is wholly owned by Nigerians, we started production in April 2006 in our ultra modern cable manufacturing factory located at Agbara industrial estate about two kilometers from Badagry expressway, Agbara Ogun State, Nigeria, our cable manufacturing plant is equipped with state of the art machinery. Our quality assurance laboratory is equipped with appropriately experience manpower and state of the art technology tools to assure quality products.

Cometstar manufacturing co. limited is a member of Cable Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CAMAN) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

The quality assurance program of Cometstar Manufacturing Company Limited started with the company’s research on what should make a particular quality electric cable out standing by Cometstar Elektrindo limited the parent company.

In today’s cable market, one of the interested of the consumers is to have value for them money (quality) amidst safety considerations since electric cable endangers life whenever wrongly put to use.

The search for quality, and safety of users of our electric cables led us to a specially manufactured type of insulating material fire retardant PVC for all our PVC insulated cables.

Our team of experts in manufacturing operations, engineering and marketing assures that appropriate standards of cable designs, manufacturing and service delivery are maintained.

Our wires and cables are produced in conformity with national standard on cables like Nigeria Industrial Standard (NIS), British Standards (BS). Our product range includes various sizes of PVC coated house wiring cables XLPE Insulated cable, armored and non-armored main cables, flexible copper cables and cords, consumer connection Aluminum cables.

 

 

 

1.9     DEFINATIONS OF TERM USED

• MICRO ENTERPRISE: Micro enterprise is the informally organized business activity undertaken by entrepreneurs.
• SMALL ENTERPRISES: Small enterprises is any enterprise that employs between ten (10) to forty – nine (49) people and has asset worth (excluding land and building) between N 5million and N 50 million
• MEDIUM ENTERPRISE: Medium enterprise is any enterprise that employs between fifty (50) and one hundred and ninety – nine (199) people and has assets worth (excluding land and building) between N 50 million and 500 million
• MICROFINANCE INSTITUTION: Microfinance institution are organization whose activities consist wholly or in significant part of the provision of financial services to micro entrepreneurs.
• MICRO CREDIT: Micro credit is commonly defined in terms of loan amount as a percentage of average per capital income in the context o Nigeria.
• MICRO SAVING: Micro saving are defined as saving account with a balance of less than N 8, 400 (about & 50), that is less than 20% of the average annual income per capital

SMALL-SCALE: A small firm is defined in terms of various combinations of factors like number of persons employed, value of assets, turnover and or output etc

ENTREPRENEUR: According to Olutunla (2001) the word entrepreneurship is derived from the French word ‘’entreprende’’ meaning to ‘’undertake’’. To this end, an entrepreneur is someone that creates a business.

 ENTREPRENEURSHIP: The word entrepreneurship is derived from the French word ‘’entreprende’’ meaning to ‘’undertake’’. To this end, entrepreneurship is commonly defined as the process of creating a business.

INDUSTRY: Collection of undertaking’s generally not under one control but connected with same economic activity or similar ones.

FIRM: Refers to individual factors, shops mine etc or a number of them grouped together

DEVELOPMENT: – The action or processes where new industries are encouraged in order to create jobs for the unemployed. The process of being developing or developed.

PROFIT: – Additional money gained in business that is the different between the amount spent and the amount earned.

BUSINESS: – According to R.F Abban (1989:2) designed business as on institution or organization established to supply. The aim of the organization may be either to make profit or to provide certain services to the people. Also, business is exchange of goods, money or services for mutual benefits.

RISK: According to Aguolu (1974:8), this is the probability or possibility that the expected outcome varies from real income.

INVESTOR: Accordingly to Aliukama promotion and achievement, which has to do with effects being put for the success of certain project and the positive outcome of certain instance

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