SOURCES OF INNOVATION CAPABILITY AND PERFORMANCE OF ICT AGGLOMERATED MSMEs IN NIGERIA

Abstract

It has been established in both developed and emerging economies that geographic concentration of firms contributed in no small ways to the growth of country’s economy. However, in developing countries like Nigeria, what constitutes innovation capability needed to transform local innovation system towards indigenisation of ICT products among the ICT clustered firms is not known; and where data are available, they are somewhat outdated. This paper therefore presented empirical evidences on Innovation capability among agglomerated MSMEs in Nigeria. The research adapted the 6th Community Innovation Survey (CIS) on 228 owners of ICT clustered enterprises. It was found that nontechnical innovations were more prevalent in the clusters. It was also discovered that firms with appropriate mix of both internal and external sources of Innovation Capability performed better. The research thus added to the body of knowledge in development literature on the role of capability mix in innovation management.