SMEs-Enabled Circular Business Models: A Pathway to Sustainable Development (A Study of Some Selected SMEs in Abeokuta, Ogun State)

Abstract

The study focused into SMEs-Enabled Circular Business Models: A Pathway to Sustainable Development in some selected Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. The survey was carried out on 260 SMEs owners in Abeokuta selected based on purposive sampling technique. SMEs owners in Abeokuta engage in different categories of businesses (agriculture, manufacturing, quarrying, hair and beauty salons, wholesale/ trade and so on). However, the 260 SMEs' owners were taken from four important economic sectors: manufacturing, food services, agriculture, and wholesale/retail commerce. A quota of 65 SMEs owners was chosen from the four economic sectors purposively to arrive at the sample size of 260 for the study. Survey research methodology was employed for the investigation. The study employed an online questionnaire with 25 items based on 4 point likert-scale to elicit necessary data from the respondents. Component factor analysis and Cronbach Alpha statistics were used to examine the psychometric qualities (validity and reliability) of the instrument. Using SPSS version 26, multiple linear regression was conducted to assess the descriptive and inferential statistics of the study's data. The study found a strong positive significant relationship between circular economy and sustainable development; the t-statistic demonstrates this {f (2/258), t=722.064, P<0.05}. The model summary reveals that r2=.92 which implies that 92% of the total variation in sustainable development is jointly accounted for by RC and RR. Based on the findings, the study concluded that there is a strong positive significant association between circular economy and sustainable development.