Agu Godswill Agu

Nigeria, particularly its southeastern region, is home to numerous micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that contribute significantly to the nation's economy. Despite facing various challenges, MSMEs account for 84% of total employment and contribute 48.47% to Nigeria’s GDP, according to the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and the National Bureau of Statistics (2013). However, these enterprises struggle with limited patronage and low global competitiveness, largely due to restricted access to modern technology. This study emphasizes the urgent need for a strategic, modern marketing approach to boost the visibility and acceptance of made-in-Nigeria products. It proposes a 5Ps marketing model product, price, place, promotion, and people integrated within a modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The study explores MSMEs’ awareness, drivers, and intentions to adopt e-marketing strategies. Using SmartPLS structural equation modeling on data from 181 respondents, the research confirms that the 5Ps, along with perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude, significantly influence the intention to adopt e-marketing. The study offers both theoretical insights and practical recommendations to enhance MSMEs’ marketing capabilities, increase customer engagement, and improve the adoption of digital strategies necessary for global competitiveness.

African traditional entrepreneurship schemes have gained growing scholarly attention in recent times, with the Indigenous Igbo Entrepreneurship Scheme (IIES) recognized as the most impactful. Although scholars have explored various dimensions of the IIES, they agree that the phenomenon requires more exploration in order to position it properly in the global literature of entrepreneurship and support its adoption in other regions beyond the Igbo context. Currently, very few studies have investigated the roles, impediments, and possible solutions to the challenges faced by the IIES, and none is known that covers these three areas simultaneously. By deploying a mixed research method involving in-depth interviews with IIES enrollees and trainers, and a systematic literature review, this study proposes the 3Rs framework to the IIES. Thus, it anchors on the entrepreneurial venture creation theory and the multidimensional construct to explore the IIES’s relevance, restraints, and remedies. Several findings relating to the relevance of the scheme, such as its economic, social, financial, and environmental contributions, the restraints (informality, lack of regulation, eroding trust, and dwindling enrolment), and the remedies (including the formulation of regulatory policies, formalization of the scheme, talent hunting, and rekindling the spiritual side) are highlighted. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Purpose: Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study contextually examines the level of willingness of religious entrepreneurs to accept and implement artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Furthermore, it aims to explore the challenges and prospects of AI adoption among entrepreneurs.Design/methodology/approach: Following a qualitative approach, the data were collected from 12 informants from different segments of religious entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Semi-structured interviews and deductive thematic analysis were used to collect data.Findings: The findings show that religious entrepreneurs demonstrate commendable level of awareness of the availability and usefulness of AI tools that support secular and sacred entrepreneurial pursuits. Furthermore, findings indicate that they have fully integrated AI in their secular entrepreneurial affairs but still demonstrate restraints in implementing it in certain sacred functions. Several challenges including shortage of finance, trained manpower and equipment are faced by the entrepreneurs.Originality/value: Theoretically, the findings demonstrate that AI awareness and perceived usefulness influence the intention of religious entrepreneurs to integrate AI into religious entrepreneurship, while perceived ease of use does not.

Branding as a Tool for Increasing Customer Loyalty in the Telecommunication Industry in Nigeria