This study examined the contingent role of owner-manager competence on the relationship between entrepreneurial ecosystem and performance of microenterprises in Benue State, Nigeria. The study was guided by 2 research objectives, corresponding questions, and hypotheses, which collectively sought to assess the effect of a critical ecosystem factor and the contingent role strategic competency on microenterprise outcomes. Anchored on the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Systems Theory, the research conceptualized enterprise performance as the outcome of the dynamic interaction between environmental conditions and firm-level strategic resources. A survey research design was employed, and primary data were collected from 108 owner-managers of agro-processing microenterprises. The data were analyzed using linear regression technique and Hayes moderation analysis, to test the direct and moderating relationships respectively. The study established a significant positive relationship between government policies as acritical ecosystem factor and the financial performance of microenterprises. The findings further revealed a critical interaction effect, wherein strategic competence plays a deciding role in how government policies affect micro-firms' performance. The study concluded that microenterprise performance was shaped by the synergistic interplay between entrepreneurial ecosystem conditions and internal entrepreneurial capabilities. The findings advanced management theory by highlighting the contingent and interactive roles of ecosystem elements and firm-level resources in driving microenterprise success within developing economies.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Entrepreneurial Capabilities, Strategic Competence. Micro-businesses, Firm Performance, Developing Economies