Project Management Maturity Assessment of Small and Medium Enterprises in the ICT Sector in Enugu State, South East Nigeria

Project management maturity is an indicator of an organization's capacity to consistently deliver successful projects, yet formal maturity assessment of SMEs in Nigeria's growing ICT sector is limited. This study assesses project management maturity in small and medium enterprises in the ICT sector in Enugu State, South East Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey will recruit 160 ICT entrepreneurs, project managers, and team leads from 30 SMEs registered with the Enugu State ICT Agency. The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) developed by Kerzner will be used to assess maturity across five levels: common language, common processes, singular methodology, benchmarking, and continuous improvement. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA will compare maturity levels across firm size categories. Existing evidence from the Nigerian ICT sector suggests that most SMEs operate at maturity level one or two, relying on informal project practices that limit scalability and investor confidence. Findings will support the Enugu State government's digital economy agenda and guide SME capacity-building programs for the ICT sector. Keywords: project management maturity, ICT SMEs, Enugu State, PMMM, organizational capability