The types and intensity of innovation in developing-country SMEs: evidences from a Nigerian sub-sectoral study

Understanding the types of innovations that SMEs currently undertake, and their commitment to innovation, is especially useful for policy making in developing countries. This paper, therefore, addressed two main questions: What types of innovation occur in SMEs? How intense is innovation in SMEs? We have used empirical information from a census carried out in the Nigerian Cable and Wire manufacturing industry. Questionnaire and interviews were the primary means of data collection and the data covered the 4-year period between 2003 and 2007. We found a high prevalence of organisational innovation and low prevalence of diffusion-based innovation. Innovation intensity was low at 0.114% per capita training investment. Interestingly, our findings revealed that process and marketing innovation accompanied each other. We conclude that SMEs in developing countries are not innovation-inactive and that they would do better if industries are well organised and firms make higher investments in learning and capability build-up.