Microfinance Banks and Development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Kwara State: Demand side’s Perception.
Loading...
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Accounting and Management
Abstract
Limited access to finance by SME operators has been a major hindrance to the development of SMEs in Nigeria. This necessitated frantic efforts by government at all levels to remove this blockade including Kwara State. Hence, this study investigates the impact of Microfinance Banks on the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Kwara State. Primary data were collected through a self-structured questionnaire that was developed and administered to 195 SMEs operators in Kwara State. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression. The empirical analyses showed that, at 5% significance level, there is a strong positive relationship between timely access to finance and SMEs development, deposit mobilisation has a significant positive impact on SMEs development, and non-financial services of Microfinance Banks have a significant positive effect on SMEs development. The study, therefore, recommends that Microfinance Banks should ensure timely access to loans by SMEs operators to embark on profitable and value-added investment projects. The study also recommends that Microfinance Banks should improve their deposit mobilisation to enhance their liquidity and in-turn boost their capacity to grant loans to SMEs operators which will increase their profitability.