An Assessment Of The Impact Of Microfinance Programme On Socioeconomic Well-Being And Business Growth Of Micro Entrepreneurs In Nigeria: A Case Study Of Cowries Microfinance Bank
| dc.contributor.author | Olubukola Olateju, Adijat | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-01-18T08:06:21Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-01-18T08:06:21Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2016-02 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Nigeria as a developing country has been facing high rates of poverty over the years. Given this, the government has embarked on many policies and programmes meant to ameliorate the situation. However, most of these policies and programmes have failed due to corruption, bureaucratic bottlenecks, inconsistency in policies, and lack of effective monitoring and evaluation. Hence, the government has realised the need to embark on propoor policies such as Micro-Finance Bank (MFB) programme with focus on the well-being of the poor, enhance entrepreneurship development, so that employment can be generated, and thereby bring about socio-economic development. The government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has encouraged MFB to lend to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with more emphasis on Microenterprises (MEs). The objectives of this study are to: (1) investigate the factors that determine the participation of MEs in MFB programmes in Nigeria; (2) assess the impact of MFB programmes on socio-economic wellbeing of MEs in Nigeria, (3) assess the impact of MFB programs on the business growth of MEs in Nigeria; and (4) investigate the problems and challenges faced by MEs in expanding their businesses in Nigeria. Quantitative data (through questionnaire) and qualitative data [through Interview and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)] were used to answer these objectives. A sample of 550 MEs; comprising 250 participants of MFB programmes and 300 non-participants of MFB programmes, were selected through a simple random sampling technique. The sample was further disaggregated into poor MEs (305) and non-poor MEs (245). The Tobit regression and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) methods were used to analyse the data. The findings from the Tobit regression indicate that all the variables used in measuring the determinants of participation in MFB programmes have the expected signs and are significant for the full sample and poor sample, except for the variable age, which is insignificant for both samples. However, for the non-poor sample, only four of the variables were significant, and these variables are age, years of education, membership of a political party, and income while other variables were insignificant. The finding from the PSM for the first part of Objective Two indicates that the impact of participation in MFB programmes on economic well-being is greater for participant MEs compared to the non-participant ones for the entire samples. The results for the second part of Objective Two indicate that the impact of participation in MFB programmes on social well-being is greater for poor participant MEs compared to the non-participant ones, while for the full sample, the effect is positive but insignificant for participants in the programme. However, for the non-poor MEs, the effect of the programme on the social well-being of the participants in the programme is negative and insignificant. Our results for the Objective Three indicate that participation in MFB programmes has a positive and significant impact in enhancing the business growth of poor participant MEs, while for the non-poor participant MEs and for the full sample, the effect is negative and significant, and for participant MEs, it is positive and insignificant. The result of the Objective Four of the study indicates that the major factors that hinder business growth of MEs in Nigeria are: inadequate capital that often arise from small loan, inflexibility of the repayment system, lack of basic infrastructure and facilities especially electricity and road networks, inconsistent and unfriendly policies of the CBN. Based on these findings the study makes the following recommendations for the MFBs and the government: (1) the MFBs should target the poor MEs, female and middle educated groups when giving out loans. The loan amount should be increased and the repayment terms should be made flexible; and (2) the government should ensure that the policies of CBN are consistent and friendly, and must provide adequate infrastructure and facilities, such as efficient electricity supply and good road networks to support the activities of both MFBs and the MEs. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/3490 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Universiti Sains Malaysia | en_US |
| dc.subject | Socio-economic development | en_US |
| dc.title | An Assessment Of The Impact Of Microfinance Programme On Socioeconomic Well-Being And Business Growth Of Micro Entrepreneurs In Nigeria: A Case Study Of Cowries Microfinance Bank | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
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