Sources of technological learning among tenants of Nigeria’s incubators

Abstract

Past literature on incubation has examined the benefits and roles incubators play in the stimulation of local and regional economies. Studies have also shown the enormous implications of technological and non-technological assistance to tenants’ enterprises. However, research on the process through which tenant firms acquire technological capability is limited, particularly from a developing economy like Nigeria. Hence, this study explored various sources that are open to the tenant firms of incubators in Nigeria to acquire technological capabilities which can sustain them during and after incubation. A questionnaire and unstructured interviews were deployed to obtain relevant data on the sources of technological learning from sixty-three tenants and six incubator managers. The results suggest that internal and external sources of technological learning among the tenants augment their ability to survive competition during and after the incubation periods. The internal sources were primarily the absorptive capacity of the tenants, linkages with knowledge centres and relevant technological efforts. External sources include sources of machinery and equipment used for production, information input from customers and technical skills from expatriates. The major obstacles to technological learning among the tenants are inadequate venture funds, weak linkages with knowledge institutions, particularly universities, inadequate technical training facilities within the incubators and poor basic infrastructure. The study concludes that tenants’ capabilities could be enhanced with adequate training, proper linkages with research institutions and improved internal technological efforts.