UNIPORT JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, ACCOUNTING & FINANCE MANAGEMENT

This manuscript explores the challenge of re-engineering entrepreneurial ethics in Nigeria's small-scale manufacturing sector through institutional reforms, emphasizing educational and regulatory interventions. Based on a review of 30 peer-reviewed studies, it highlights systemic weaknesses in Nigeria's entrepreneurial ecosystem, including endemic corruption, regulatory gaps, limited access to finance, and inadequate ethics education. These issues have led to the normalization of evasive behaviours, such as tax evasion and bribery, perceived as "best practices" in constrained environments. Employing institutional theory, the analysis investigates how both formal and informal institutions shape entrepreneurial ethics, particularly in the manufacturing sector, where ethical lapses can significantly impact economic growth and social welfare. Comparative analyses with other African nations (like Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya) and emerging economies (such as India and Brazil) provide transferable lessons and context-specific interventions. Key findings show that: (1) institutional quality plays a vital role in moderating the relationship between SME development and economic growth; (2) educational interventions must include practical entrepreneurship training along with explicit ethics curricula; (3) regulatory reforms should strengthen formal institutions while addressing informal norms that perpetuate corruption; and (4) effective reform requires coordinated action across educational systems, regulatory bodies, and cultural frameworks. The article concludes with policy recommendations focused on reforming educational curricula, strengthening regulatory frameworks, implementing anti-corruption measures, and building institutional capacities tailored to Nigeria's socio-economic context.

The private sector is widely recognized as one of the major drivers of economic growth in any economy, especially when the right credit is made accessible to them. In macroeconomic theory, fluctuations in the supply of money and credit constitute a key causal factor in the cyclical process of economic activity, that is, when money supply falls, prices reduce, profits reduce, production activities become sluggish, and output is low. Conversely, when money supply expands, prices rise, profits increase and the total output increases and finally, growth takes place, (Olorunmade, Samuel & Adewole, 2019). The financial sector is one of the sources that makes this credit accessible to the private sector. The financial sector enhance stability, efficiency and has the ability to mobilize and allocate resources effectively (IMF, 1997). It can then be concluded that no economy can develop without an appreciable growth in the financial sector, (Iloanya, 2023).

Integrated Reporting (IR) has emerged as a holistic disclosure framework that seeks to enhance corporate transparency, accountability, and stakeholder engagement by integrating financial and non-financial information. This study reviews post-2020 empirical literature to assess the impact of IR adoption on corporate performance, with a focus on both financial and non-financial dimensions. Findings indicate that IR adoption is positively associated with improved stakeholder trust, enhanced firm reputation, and better access to capital. From a financial perspective, IR supports efficient capital allocation and long-term value creation, while non-financially it fosters sustainability, governance quality, and organizational legitimacy. However, the review also reveals variations in outcomes across different institutional contexts, with stronger effects in environments characterized by robust regulatory frameworks and high stakeholder activism, compared to weaker effects in emerging economies where adoption is often symbolic. Theoretically, the study demonstrates that IR is underpinned by stakeholder and legitimacy theories but also highlights the growing relevance of institutional theory in explaining contextual differences. Methodological gaps are evident, as most studies rely heavily on quantitative approaches with limited exploration of qualitative insights that capture deeper organizational dynamics. The study concludes by proposing a future research agenda focused on context-sensitive frameworks, hybrid methodologies, and sector-specific analyses that can further clarify the role of IR in driving sustainable corporate performance.

This study explored the effect of balance of payments on economic growth in Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to establish the connection between the balance of payments and economic growth. Secondary data were collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin. Real GDP was the dependent variable while balance of payment (capital and current account), exceptional financing and net errors/omission were the independent variables. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test was used to test for stationarity, the results revealed that the variables were stationary at first difference. Also the analysis revealed that there was long run relationship between balance of payment and economic growth of Nigeria. Results from the error correction model revealed that balance of payment exerted a significantly negative effect on economic growth of Nigeria, exceptional financing had negative and significant effect on economic growth, while net error and omissions had positive and significant effect on economic growth of Nigeria. The study concluded that Nigeria’s balance of payment has not been favorable in enhancing economic growth. Exceptional financing statistics for Nigeria are on the increase and this has led to heightened pressure on the economy and slowing down of real gross domestic product. It was recommended that the Nigerian government should strive to boost the country’s exports as this is the only way to put the balance of payment statistics on a positive trend and ensure sustained economic growth.

Given the perceived connection between bank deposits and bank lending, this study investigated the effects of private sector deposits on the growth of the Nigerian economy for the period 1994 to 2023. Real GDP was adopted as a proxy for economic growth while private sector deposit was disaggregated into demand, time, savings and foreign currency deposits. Data for the study were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin for 2023. Following preliminary analysis that covered descriptive analysis and ADF unit root test, the study adopted the Johansen cointegration analytical technique, granger causality test and ECM estimation for further analysis. The validity and reliability of results were checked using multicollinearity, serial correlation and heteroscedasticity tests. Basically, the study revealed that there is a long run relationship between private sector deposits and economic growth in Nigeria. Also, results showed that private sector’s demand, time and foreign currency deposits have positive insignificant effects on real GDP which the sector’s savings deposits have negative but also insignificant influence on real gross domestic product. On this note, the study concluded that the effect of private sector deposits on economic growth in Nigeria is insignificant. This led to the suggestion that there is need for banks to offer competitive lending rates that will be attractive to the public so as to be able to attract more deposits for onward lending to the deficit unit of the economy. Also, the regulatory authorities on their part should scale down lending rate by bringing down monetary policy rate. This will help in pushing more funds from the public into the banking system.