Renewable Energy: A Quantum Factor for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Economic Development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in South-south, Nigeria

Renewable Energy: A Quantum Factor for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Economic Development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in South-south, Nigeria | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Renewable Energy: A Quantum Factor for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Economic Development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in South-south, Nigeria Bankole Isaac Akinroluyo, Olusegun Suleiman, Kazeem Audu, Edward Taiye Onyambayi, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7776388/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigates the effect of renewable energy development on the performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in South-South region of Nigeria. The research was motivated by the persistent power supply challenges in Nigeria and the potential of renewable energy to serve as a means to reduce poverty and sustainable economic development. Specifically, the study assessed how renewable energy utilization, system efficiency, and energy generation influence SMEs’ operational efficiency, profitability, and long-term growth in order to reduce poverty and enhance economic growth. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and data were collected from 384 SMEs selected across the states in South-South region of Nigeria using structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using the Logit regression model, with hypotheses tested through the Likelihood Ratio test, Hosmer and Lemeshow’s test, and Pseudo R-squared statistics. The study concludes that renewable energy development plays a critical role in enhancing SME performance to reduce poverty and sustain economic development and recommended that policy interventions, financial incentives, and awareness campaigns to promote renewable energy adoption among SMEs. These findings contribute to the discourse on sustainable economic development and offer practical insights for SME owners, policymakers, and energy stakeholders in Nigeria. Renewable Energy Energy Generation Energy System Efficiency Energy utilization Life Cycle Assessment Concrete Technology Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 01 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 14 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 12 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 28 Nov, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 03 Oct, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7776388","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":559459577,"identity":"e6890ed5-fb15-4d53-a5d2-699decbbbec2","order_by":0,"name":"Bankole Isaac Akinroluyo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nnamdi Azikiwe University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bankole","middleName":"Isaac","lastName":"Akinroluyo","suffix":""},{"id":559459578,"identity":"79e9b812-824a-4653-b942-1c093bf69e99","order_by":1,"name":"Olusegun 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