Exploring the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping Venture Creation in Nigeria.

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing entrepreneurial activity worldwide, yet its practical influence on venture creation in emerging economies remains underexplored. Nigeria’s e-commerce sector, marked by rapid digital adoption but constrained by infrastructural gaps and trust deficits, presents a unique context to examine AI’s transformative potential. This study examined the role of AI in shaping venture creation among Nigerian ecommerce firms. Anchored in the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework, the research employed a cross-sectional explanatory design, surveying 300 e-commerce firms selected via stratified purposive sampling. Data were collected using structured questionnaires administered to founders and executives, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis at a 0.05 significance level. Results revealed that AI-driven decision support (β = 0.32, p = 0.001), AI-enabled customer engagement (β = 0.41, p < 0.001), and AI-enabled market intelligence (β = 0.27, p = 0.007) significantly enhance venture creation, whereas AIpowered process automation (β = 0.21, p = 0.058) and AI-enabled financial management (β = 0.09, p = 0.452) were not significant. The findings indicate that Nigerian entrepreneurs are technologically and organizationally prepared to adopt AI in consumer-facing and intelligencedriven functions, but infrastructural and institutional barriers limit its impact in operational and financial areas. The study concludes that AI serves as a strategic enabler of entrepreneurial growth and competitiveness in Nigeria’s digital economy. A key recommendation is for policymakers to invest in digital infrastructure and strengthen consumer trust mechanisms to fully unlock AI’s transformative potential for e-commerce ventures.