International records / OpenAlex research

Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMES) Contributions to Nigeria’s Economy

This study examines the contributions of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to Nigeria’s Introduction economy from 1999 to 2024 through the lens of the Pecking Order Theory, which explains how the sector's reliance on a hierarchy of financing prioritizing internal retained earnings over high interest debt and elusive external equity shapes its growth trajectory. Representing over 96.7% of all Nigerian businesses, MSMEs experienced a dramatic expansion from 17.28 million units in 2010 to over 41.54 million by 2017, effectively doubling employment from 32.4 million to over 60 million and reachi…