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Graduation problems amongst MSEs in Eastern Nigeria
01.12.1992
Although microenterprises and small business (MSEs) may sometimes serve as a 'seedbed' from which larger enterprises emerge, very often certain factors constrain them from expanding. Using longitudinal data covering a period of 30 years, this article examines the 'graduation' problems of 37 MSEs in Eastern Nigeria. It shows that the rate of graduation of these enterprises was not only unimpressive, cases of stagnation and failure were numerous. An evaluation of the case histories of the 'graduated' firms indicates that they had been able to adopt innovative management strategies which were not only absent in the non-graduated firms, but are also uncommon amongst the MSEs in Africa.