BOARD DIVERSITY AND FIRM FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA

The effect of board diversity on the performance of insurance firms in Nigeria is empiricallyexamined in this study. Between 2010 and 2021, a sample of forty six insurance firms was investigated using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and dynamic panel GMM regression. The various analyses were used to investigate the connection between the performance of insurance firms in Nigeria and board diversity.The empirical findings showed that board gender diversity and ethnicity diversity had a substantial impact on the performance of Nigeria's insurance firms. However, nationality diversity have no appreciable influence on the performance of Nigeria's insurance firms.We recommend among others; that insurance companies should improve the representation of females in the board and also include people from different ethnicity in the board so that they can contribute effectively and reverse the negative effect of gender and ethnic diversity on insurance companies' performance in Nigeria. The board of directors of corporate organisations in Nigeria needs to be reorganised to include more diverse members. This will guarantee that there is a sufficient mix of directors,including a balance of male and female directors.

inancial performance in Nigeria. The scope of this study is for a period covering selected manufacturing companies
in Nigeria from 2018 to 2022 using the Nigeria Exchange Group (NGX) as a basis of
sampling selection. The data used was obtained mainly from secondary sources. The
secondary data relate to relevant information that depicts board diversity and firm
financial performance. This was made up of information relating to board age, board
gender, board educational background, board ethnicity and firm financial performance. In
this study, data were extracted from the annual reports and account of these seventeen (17)
fast moving consumers goods, companies quoted on the Nigeria Exchange Group used as
case study within the period of five (5) years ranging from 2018-2022. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, corporate leaders, and
stakeholders. Firstly, the study reveals that board age has a statistically significant
positive impact on firm financial performance. The study therefore made the following
recommendations that companies should aim to achieve a balanced mix of experienced
and younger directors on boards to leverage diverse perspectives and experiences, there is
need to implement policies and practices to increase the representation of women on
boards, fostering inclusivity and broader corporate governance objectives. The following
recommendations are made to achieves the objective. There should be constant review of
existing tax laws of one year. There should be stringent penalty imposed on any corporate
body who include in any form of VAT malpractice irrespective of states. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the relationships between board characteristics and firm financial
performance in the quoted manufacturing industry in Nigeria.