Sustainable Innovation and Business Growth of Selected Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

This study examines how sustainable innovation affects the business growth of the Nigerian Deposit Money Banks (DMBs). Based on Institutional Theory and Stakeholder Theory, the study examines the roles of Sustainable Innovation Adoption (SIA), Digital Banking (DBA), and Green Financial Products (GFP) in business growth in an environment of adaptive regulatory demands and stakeholder pressures. A quantitative research design was adopted, and data were collected through a structured survey administered to 223 bank staff working in Lagos. Further analysis was performed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results show that the effect of SIA, DBA, and GFP on business growth is statistically significant, with an R2 value of 0.406. Consequently, SIA showed the strongest effect (β = 0.3831), followed by DBA (β = 0.3120) and GFP (β = 0.2474); all the paths were significant at the 0.001 level. The study suggests that DMBs should go beyond symbolic compliance and institutionalise ESG governance at the board level, and use digital infrastructure to guide customers successfully towards green financial products. The study empirically substantiates the idea of a Twin Transition in an emerging market, which shows that sustainability is a strategic source of growth and not a regulatory obligation.