AFRICAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The contrasting views on the efficiency of capital markets in both developed and developing nations among researchers which dates back to over forty years is the basis of this research. Hence this paper examines the efficient market hypothesis on the Nigerian capital market spanning the period of 2012-2021. The paper deals with empirical research that has been published in various research journals on the Nigerian capital market. Findings from the empirical research show that there have been mixed feelings on the efficiency of the Nigerian capital market. Nevertheless, the market seems to be efficient in the weak-form. The paper opines that there are inherent difficulties in testing for market efficiency in developing countries capital market due to certain market imperfections that could affect the informational efficiency of the market. Stock market regulators in Nigeria should therefore step up their efforts to improve the adequacy and quality of information flow in the market so as to make the market competitive.

The study examined the contributive role of micro- financing in alleviating the improvised state of the Nigerian economy with specific focus on the Covid-19 era. The study focused on Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs in Delta State, Nigeria. The regressor is Micro-financing proxied by provision of micro-credits and easy access to micro-credits, credit mobilization, co-operative society financing, and government transfer payments while the regressand is poverty alleviation.. The study adopted the survey research design with data derived from specially designed questionnaires, administered to a total of 385 SMEs operators who are beneficiaries of the Delta State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency across the 25 local government areas of the state. Regression analysis was used for test of hypothesis and it was discovered that provision of micro-credits and easy access to micro-credits have favourable impacts on poverty alleviation in Delta State. However, credit mobilization, co-operative society financing, and government transfer payments had insignificant impacts on poverty alleviation. Hence, the study concludes that provision and access to micro-credits act as catalyst for poverty alleviation in Delta State, Nigeria especially in the Covid-19 era. Hence, the study suggests that there is need Micro finance institutions to establish appropriate structure for accessing micro-credits. More so, both the state and federal government should ensure that soft loans which they grant to the unreached masses are sustainable. This will in turn reduce the current poverty rate inherent in the country.

Entrepreneurship skills development programme is an effective way of promoting and cultivating students' interest and tendencies towards entrepreneurship in the university system and eventually leading to new venture creation in Nigeria. One of the main motivations influencing how most countries' economies are led is entrepreneurship. It has served as the vehicle for the ongoing introduction of fresh concepts and innovative business strategies in the market place. Despite the inclusion of entrepreneurship courses in tertiary education curriculum, there has been no positive effect on entrepreneurial venture creation in Nigeria. Consequently, the university students in the dynamic complexity of the emerging markets are unable to translate their intentions into entrepreneurial goals and aspirations after graduation. As a result, graduate unemployment is expected to continue to rise. This study, therefore, was carried out to investigate the effect of intellectual capacity on entrepreneurial intention among private university students in South-West, Nigeria. The study was anchored on social learning theory of career choice. The study adopted survey design. The population of the study consisted 652 final year students in the faculties/colleges of Business and Social Sciences of eleven (11) selected private Universities in South-West, Nigeria. A total of 652 copies of the questionnaire were administered to the respondents out of which 623 copies were returned and analyzed. Structural Equation Modelling technique was used. Findings of the study revealed that intellectual capacity has no statistical significant influence on entrepreneurial intention (where π -0.162; t- 0.858 and p- 0.392). Intellectual Capacity has not achieved a considerable success in stimulating the entrepreneurial intention among final year students of the selected private universities. The study concluded that students who exhibited high intellectual competencies are not expected to embrace venture creation after graduation and are less likely to engage in entrepreneurship activities.

The relevance of finance in solving several economic problems has been emphasized with several empirical literature. However, the practicability of some of these results remains tough in developing countries due to their peculiar features. This study explores financial intermediation influence on income inequality in Nigeria between 1985 and 2020 using secondary data gleaned from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin. The result of the Fully Modified Least Square (FMOLS) showed that changes in financial intermediation measures such as money supply and credit to private sector will result into an increase in income inequality while changes in stock market capitalization result in a decline in income inequality.  The outcome of this study implies that using institutions-based approach to address the problem of income inequality in Nigeria may not yield desirable outcome as only stock market capitalization yields a statistically significant result at 95% confidence level. Hence, the study recommends that there is a need to design a modern financial market and institutions-based approach devoid of any personal colouration for the country in order to tackle the menace of income inequality. Likewise, there is a need to inculcate international best practices on socio-economic management in order to attain desired economic growth and sustainable development in Nigeria.

This paper is an investigation of the relationship between financial leverage and financial performance in deposit money banks in Nigeria. Financial performance was measured using Return on Assets (ROA) while long-term debts (LTD), short-term debts (STD), and total debts served as the variables for financial leverage. The data for the analysis was extracted from the financial statements and annual reports of the 5 banks in the sample for the ten-year period 2011-2020. The study adopted the multiple regression analysis and adopted panel data regression estimation technique. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were employed. In addition, the unit root test, Hausman test, and residual normality test were used for diagnosis. Our results indicated that long-term debt has a negative and insignificant effect on return on asset, short-term debt is negative and significant with return on asset, and total debt is positive and insignificant with return on asset. Thus, it is recommended that bank management give more incentives to STD suppliers, observe due diligence in borrowing for investment, and consider a tradeoff between STD and LTD in deciding on debt capital to optimize their performance.

The study is a cross-sectional survey research on the influence of human resource audit on organizational efficiency of banks listed on the Nigeria Exchange Group. The population of the study comprised the eight (8) Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria licence with international authorization. The study adopted multi stage sampling method. Random sampling technique was used to select 4 Deposit Money Banks which included Zenith bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Guaranty trust Bank, and Fidelity Bank Plc while purposive sampling technique was used to select ten (10) top management personnel from each selected bank making total respondents for the study equals 40. Data collected were analyzed using linear regression statistical method. The study concluded that human resource audit has significant impact on human resource commitment to achieving maximum output. This implies HR audit is a tool for increasing employees’ commitment to achieving maximum output. HR audit could also mean a strategic measure to addressing employee’s poor commitment to achieving maximum output. The study also concluded that human resource audit has significant impact on organizational productivity. By implication, HR audit is an effective tool for increasing productivity. HR audit is a useful tool for identifying human resource’s deviation from organizational productivity objective. HR audit is very essential in monitoring or checking organizational productivity. The study recommended periodic conduct of HR audit in an organization to enhance human resource commitment to achieving maximum output.