INNOVATIVENESS AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IN POST COVID-19 ERA: AN ASSESSMENT OF SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract African countries passed through traumatizing experiences that were beyond imagination during and after the covid-19 pandemic. The worsening situation was as a result of her low pace of development in business practices, and more especially her unpreparedness in the area of innovation. The coronavirus pandemic has left unprecedented impacts across Africa, particularly in Nigeria. The impacts are more prominent in the area of human health and economic activities. This paper assessed how innovativeness has impacted on business performance in southwest Nigeria after the coronavirus, otherwise known as covid-19 pandemic. Questionnaire was employed as research instrument to collect primary data from 400 respondents through simple random technique for the study. A total of 322 were returned. This makes up 80% of the overall sample size that was examined. These were handled, examined, and used in the research to analyse how innovativeness impact on performance of business firms in Southwest Nigeria after the covid-19 pandemic. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The study’s findings demonstrated the positive and considerable impact that innovativeness has regarding business performance in southwest Nigeria in the post covid-19 era. The study’s findings showed that innovativeness has a favourable and significant influence on business performance in southwest Nigeria after the post covid-19 era.