📖 ABSTRACT/OVERVIEW
Internationalisation exposes SMEs to foreign knowledge, competitive pressure, and technological know-how that can stimulate innovation, but empirical investigation of this internationalisation-innovation relationship among Nigerian SMEs addresses a gap in the developing country international business literature. This study empirically investigated the effect of firm-level internationalisation on innovation performance among 160 Nigerian SMEs with some degree of international activity, spanning manufacturing, agribusiness, and professional services sectors across Lagos, Abuja, and Kano. Internationalisation was measured by export intensity (export revenue as a proportion of total revenue), geographic scope (number of countries served), and mode of internationalisation. Innovation performance was measured by new product introduction rate, process improvement frequency, and technology acquisition intensity. Control variables included firm age, size, and industry sector. Panel data regression with random effects was employed. Results showed a significant positive relationship between export intensity and innovation performance (beta = 0.37, p < 0.001). Geographic scope had a stronger effect on radical innovation (new products) than on incremental process improvements. SMEs that internationalised through foreign partnership modes showed significantly higher technology acquisition rates than those using direct export alone (mean: 3.2 vs. 1.8 new technology acquisitions per year). The moderating effect of absorptive capacity was confirmed, with higher-capability firms benefiting more from internationalisation. The study concludes that internationalisation stimulates innovation in Nigerian SMEs, particularly through international partnerships, and recommends export promotion programmes that include technology linkage components. Keywords: internationalisation, innovation performance, Nigerian SMEs, export intensity, absorptive capacity
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