Business information in Nigeria

Abstract

Although the main focus of the paper is companies’ annual reports, it attempts to discuss briefly other sources of business information available in Nigeria and some of the problems encountered in accessing them. It considers the value business executives place on sources of business information and in particular companies’ annual reports. A survey of three types of business organizations in Nigeria, using a postal questionnaire and telephone survey, demonstrated that a lot of effort is put into preparing a company’s annual report and that business executives on the whole, lay much store by them.. The survey also found that companies by and large rely on the press to inform the public of their new products. The paper concludes that annual reports and other sources of business information should be viewed as more than merely a legal requirement or obligation towards their shareholders.