Assessment of Factors Influencing the Development and Sustainability of Small Scale Foundry Enterprises in Nigeria: A Case Study of Lagos State

The study identifies types of small scale foundry enterprises operating in Lagos State and also assesses their development and sustainability. Data for the study were obtained from thirty (30) selected small scale foundry enterprises in Lagos and randomly sampled one hundred and fifty (150) of their consumers using questionnaire, focus group discussion (FGD) and Key informant Interview (KII). Data was analyzed using simple frequency method, statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) and qualitative analysis from the FGD and KII. The study revealed that the majority of the foundry enterprises jobbing foundries. The management strategy of the enterprises in terms of reliability (2.11), product and service quality (2.29), and business relationship with consumers (2.09) were satisfactory. Overall ranking shows erratic power supply, flooding market with imported goods, difficulty in obtaining raw materials, flooding the market with imported goods, low linkage between the knowledge institution and the industry, policy discontinuity as factors that highly affect the development of the foundry enterprises. It was concluded that most foundries in Lagos State in Nigeria are jobbing foundries and the remaining few are production foundries. Also, the rate of development of the foundry sector in Nigeria is very low. It was recommended that government policy continuity, provision of soft loan to foundry entrepreneurs, stable power supply, availability of raw materials at low cost, improving the linkage between the knowledge institution and the industry would enhance the development and sustainability of the small scale foundry enterprises in Nigeria.