GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

­­­­­­­­ABSTRACT

The study sought to examine the leading roles of microfinance banks in the performance of small-scale businesses in Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The study area was Nigeria. The population of the study comprised bankers and small-scale business entrepreneurs in Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique was used to select four states in Nigeria. From each state, 3 micro-finance banks, 2 bankers, and 10 customers was selected and this gave a total of 144 respondents that comprised the sample size used for the study. The instrument, titled "Leading Roles of Microfinance Banks on Small Scale Businesses Questionnaire (LRMBSSBQ)", was used for data collection. Face and content validation of the instrument was carried out by an expert to ensure that the instrument had accuracy, appropriateness, and completeness. The Cronbach Alpha technique was used to determine the level of reliability of the instrument. In this case, the reliability coefficient obtained was 0.91, and this was high enough to justify the use of the instrument. The researcher subjected the data generated for this study to appropriate statistical techniques such as simple regression in testing the hypothesis. The test for significance was done at 0.05 alpha levels. The study concluded that in Nigeria, the contribution of small-scale enterprises (SSEs) has been recognized as the main sustenance of any economy because of their capacity to enhance economic output and human welfare. Moreover, microfinance loans reduce the credit constraints that often face potential entrepreneurs in poor communities, which often preclude enterprise development and growth. Therefore, the existence of microfinance institutions alleviates microbusiness financing constraints. One of the recommendations made was that the contribution of small-scale enterprises should not be underrated at this critical time of socio-economic and political development of the nation, especially if the government must deliver a dividend to the citizenry.