INFLUENCE OF ICT USE ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN PORT-HARCOURT NIGERIA.

Abstract The significant contributions of the Small and Medium Enterprises towards developing the economy of any given country cannot be over-emphasized. SMEs are attributed to be engines of economic development especially as experienced in most developed countries of the world. However, the contribution of SMEs in developing countries has been confirmed as poor. This assertion is not farfetched from what is obtainable in Nigeria. Research has shown the performance of SMEs to be poor especially in Port-Harcourt. In this study, attempts are made to examine the influence of ICT use on the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Port-Harcourt Nigeria. A self-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The research adopted descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze the research question and hypothesis using linear regression. The findings show that ICT use significantly influenced the performance of SMEs (R = 0.551, R2 = 0.303, F = 132.312 Sig. = 0.000). The study concludes that ICT use in the business operation of SMEs should be encouraged. Also, SMEs owners should sustain their use of traditional ICT tools and integrate the use of cloud-based solutions in their business practices. Keywords: ICT use, Business, Performance, SME