Abstract
The declining financial performance, characterized by low profitability and insufficient board
diversity, has been observed in Nigerian manufacturing firms over the past decade. The significant
contributions of the consumer goods manufacturing sub-sector highlight the need for empirical
investigation to enhance its performance. This study assesses the impact of board diversity
attributes on the profitability of selected consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Using
Ex-post-facto and descriptive research designs, the study focuses on consumer goods firms listed
on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX). Out of 25 firms listed, 10 were selected using
homogeneous purposive sampling. Descriptive analysis was applied to study the variables, and
panel regression was used to analyze the effects of board diversity on profitability, with tests
conducted at a 5% significance level. Results show that educational background (p = 0.0167),
ethnic diversity (p = 0.0018), and CEO duality (p = 0.0253) positively influenced profitability.
The pooled regression analysis revealed that CEO duality (p = 0.001765), financial expertise (p
= 0.000583), and educational diversity (p = 0.010698) significantly affected profitability,
measured by Return on Assets (ROA). The study concluded that board diversity attributes, such as
gender, educational, ethnic diversity, and financial expertise, positively impact the profitability of
Nigerian consumer goods manufacturing firms. It recommends that firms promote initiatives to
enhance gender and educational diversity and support financial expertise on their boards.