The study sought to determine the role of entrepreneurial skills in the performance of SMEs in Nebbi District, West Nile Region in Uganda. Using both purposive and simple random sampling procedure, a sample of 106 participants was selected for the survey. A questionnaire was used in the study. The data was analyzed using SPSS statistical package. The study concluded that there is a moderate relationship between entrepreneurial skills and performance of SMEs. However, entrepreneurial skills cannot account for the total amount of variation in performance of SMEs as it contributes only 32.5% of the level of performance in Nebbi district. The study recommended that government must invest more resources in entrepreneurship development training. Emphasis must be paid on developing entrepreneurial skills in productivity and marketing as these were identified as key performance indicators. In addition, young entrepreneurs should be trained in gathering and processing market information that is relevant to their businesses.

The level of economic growth of any region largely depends on the level of entrepreneurial activities in the region. Therefore, knowledge-based human capital investment is a prerequisite for sustained growth and productivity of enterprises (Kerosi & Kayisime, 2013). They noted that a firm’s competitive advantage stems from its entrepreneurial abilities, technical knowledge, and its adaptability to the internal and external business environment. One contributing factor to the success of SMEs depends on entrepreneurial characteristics and traits (Syamsuriana & Mohd, 2014). Entrepreneurial characteristics ought to be combined to bring out the creative and innovative abilities in an individual who seeks to own a business.