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From the heaps of garbage in street corners and highways, to blocked drains and obstructed waterways, Nigerian cities continue to bear marks of environmental degradation occasioned by the business activities of manufacturers. Globally, the picture is no less different as landfills, oceans and beaches bear indubitable testimonies of plastic pollution. While the manufacturers smile to the bank, governments and municipal authorities struggle with their meagre resources to combat the colossal burden of plastic pollution they generated in the course of creating wealth. The use of non-biodegradable materials such as polythene in product packaging is the primary driver of manufacturing-induced environmental degradation in Nigerian cities and other cities of the world. Recent developments in commerce in Nigeria, such as the emergence of the mobile supermarket, are responsible for the geometric increase in street filthiness in the country. Developing strategic alliances amongst Nigerian manufacturers or between manufacturers and municipal authorities is key in ensuring a healthy environment while doing business. However, such alliances must take a clue from the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) embodied in the environmental consciousness practised in local markets in Nigeria, hereafter referred to as the ‘market-place model’ for environmental stewardship. This model, when replicated in other economies across the globe, would significantly reduce the global burden of plastic wastes and the hazards they pose in the environment. Conscience repayment, provision of refuse collection points, recycling and green packaging are part of ways of operationalising this model in everyday business. Adopting the market-place model in building strategic alliances for environmental stewardship would afford Nigerian manufacturers, and indeed global manufacturers, financial and non-financial business benefits such as cost savings through eco-efficiency, enlightened self-interest and good corporate image.

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the adoption and use of building information modelling (BIM) for residential real estate development in Nigeria (using Lagos as a case study), with a view to providing information towards improving BIM uptake, which could enhance sustainable housing delivery in the country. A quantitative research methodology was adopted involving the use of questionnaire survey to collect primary data. The data were obtained from private real estate developers in Lagos State. The self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all the 72 active real estate developers in the study area, and the response rate was 62.5%. The collected data were analysed using statistical tools such as frequency and percentages, mean rating and chi-square. The results revealed a low level of awareness and usage of the transformative and contemporary BIM technology (6D BIM version) by real estate developers. It was established that the 2D and 3D BIM traditional versions were the most utilised across the phases of real estate development process. It was also found that the level of BIM utilisation has a significant relationship with the age and asset base of the real estate developers. The chapter concludes by advocating increase in the asset base and organisational profile of real estate developers to enhance BIM adoption, especially, the 6D BIM, which could facilitate sustainable real estate development.

Sustainable features are gradually becoming important considerations by commercial real estate users. This is because of their considered impact in reducing operating costs and potential at reducing the negative impacts of buildings on human health and the natural environment. This chapter sought to examine the demands for sustainable features by users of commercial real estate like offices in Lagos State, Nigeria. It also evaluated the factors influencing demand for them to achieve value for money and enhance real estate investment decisions. The quantitative research methodology was adopted, and primary data were collected via questionnaires distributed to 134 purposively selected estate surveying firms in the study area. Ninety-five representing (70.9%) were returned and found useable and were analysed with the aid of descriptive statistics of percentages, mean and relative willingness index. The study found that power/energy-saving features are in high demand as alternatives to the epileptic nature of power supply in the country. The study recommended the need for the government to encourage the adoption and incorporation of locally made sustainable features in commercial real estate and to subsidise them for use in the Lagos commercial real estate market. Thus, it is concluded that with the right environment created by policy makers, sustainable features in buildings have huge potentials to contribute to prevent environmental problems in an emerging commercial real estate market like Nigeria.

Ọsẹ dúdú production and sale constitute a major indigenous business among the Yoruba people. Scholars have noted that the business is capable of boosting the socio-economic status of black soap entrepreneurs and of countries. However, ọsẹ dúdú enterprise has some significant threats and problems that are yet to be researched. This chapter examined the challenges of osẹ dúdú entrepreneurs in Southwest Nigeria. Twenty-six interviews were conducted among indigenous black soap producers and sellers in Ogun, Oyo and Lagos States. Data were analysed in themes. Weather, financial, spiritual, copyright and succession challenges, as well as issues such as a large number of sellers, debt, lack of support, pricing and brand competition, were found to be problems faced by black soap entrepreneurs. This chapter concluded that certain controllable and uncontrollable factors were not only capable of limiting the development of osẹ dúdú business but also have adverse implications for the achievement of the sustainable development goals through the indigenous resource. This chapter suggests that osẹ dúdú business actors such as mechanical engineers, local fabricators, financial institutions, and governmental and non-governmental agencies collaborate with black soap entrepreneurs to ameliorate the challenges of the latter. It is only through this alliance that black soap entrepreneurs can contribute to indigenous business development and the achievement of sustainable development goals in Africa.

Apprenticeship is an ageless method of transferring knowledge of a particular trade or business from a master to an inexperienced apprentice. Africans employed various apprenticeship methods to transfer their traditions, customs, and trades to successive generations. In Nigeria, various tribes have different methods of practising apprenticeship. This study, therefore, examines apprentice training and mastership as procedures that Igbo entrepreneurs of South-East Nigeria deploy to develop their management skills. A multi-case study approach of Igbo entrepreneurs was adopted for the study. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews, and a narrative approach was used for the analysis. Findings reveal that Igbo entrepreneurs achieve managerial development through apprentice training and mastership. The chapter recommends that aspiring entrepreneurs undergo apprentice training and mastery before investing in any business. Finally, the government and its citizens can adapt the Igbo apprenticeship model to reduce unemployment and increase business ownership across Africa.

Travel and tourism have had a long history in the Nordic countries, but research on tourism has a relatively short tradition in the region. Recently, academic interest in the Nordic tourism space has grown and diversified especially as a result of increasing numbers of academics and institutions involved with tourism geographies and studies and education in the region. The Nordic context has provided thematic focus areas for empirical studies that characterize tourism geographies in the region, with topics including nature-based tourism, utilization of wilderness areas, second-home and rural developments, impacts in peripheries, and tourism as a tool for regional development. In addition, there are emerging research themes outside of the traditional core topics, such as urban, events, and heritage tourism.

The Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria are generally acknowledged as traders and astute entrepreneurs. Extant literature has investigated the various indigenous practices of Igbo entrepreneurs that ensure business success. Despite these efforts, knowledge of their financial practices has been limited. This chapter provides insights on the financial practices that are common amongst Igbo micro-entrepreneurs and the immense benefits of the practices. To unravel these practices, in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 micro-entrepreneurs involved in supermarket, spare parts and food items businesses in Lagos, Nigeria. Using a grounded theory approach, four significant financial practices such as rotating financial contribution, deferred financial arrangements, financial settlement practice and financial prudence common among the Igbo micro-entrepreneurs were identified. Based on the findings, relevant recommendations were made for financial educators and the management of modern financial institutions to adapt and incorporate some of these indigenous financial practices in teaching curricula and financial product designs.