Work Organisation, Competence Building and Innovation in Formal and Informal Microenterprises in Africa: A Case of Northern Nigeria

Abstract

The role of microenterprises in job creation cannot be overemphasised in developing countries in general and Africa in particular. Much economic activity in developing countries takes place in the microenterprise sector (Ernst, 2003), making it leading in employment generation. If microenterprises account for a significant portion of total employment, and some fraction of the capital assets used in production, their efficiency therefore matters a lot in determining overall economic performance, as measured by total factor productivity, a commonly accepted measure of aggregate competitiveness (Ernst, 2003). It is also widely accepted that innovation is central to the growth of output and productivity (OECD/Eurostat, 2005). However, owing to advances in technologies and greater flows of information, knowledge is more and more viewed as a central driver of economic growth and innovation. But, still the idea of how advances in technologies and greater flows of information and knowledge affect innovation is not fully understood (OECD/Eurostat, 2005) especially in micro, small and medium enterprises in African context