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VOL. 11, ISSUE 10 (2025)
Micro finance and business growth of small and medium enterprises in Benue state Nigeria
Authors
Esther Ijeoma Awuzie
Abstract
This study examined the effect of micro
finance on business growth of the small and medium enterprises in Benue State
Nigeria using primary data. The specific objectives were to evaluate the effect
of small business loan on growth of the small and medium enterprises in Benue
State; assess the effect of agric loan on growth of the small and medium
enterprises in Benue State and ascertain the effect of sophi loan on growth of
the small and medium enterprises in Benue State. The research adopted the
descriptive research design to generate the primary data using questionnaire.
The study used a population of 273 respondents comprising of owners of SMEs and
managers of micro finance banks in the study area. Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 was used in analyzing the data at 0.05
level of significance. The result showed small business loan has significant
positive effect on business growth of SMEs (p0.000<0.05), agric loan has no
significant effect on business growth of SMEs (p0.168>0.05), sophi loan has
significant positive effect on business growth of SMEs (p0.001<0.05). The
study recommended that to improve the sales growth, small and medium
enterprises should be sensitized to form unions and register under micro
finance banks so as benefit from their credit facilities. SMEs should utilize
small business and sophi loan (credit facilities) offered by micro finance
banks especially among the market traders. This will help them to grow and then
contribute meaningfully to economic growth and development. Government
should sensitize and educate the rural farmers on the need to access agric loan
to expand their farm cultivation through mechanized agriculture. This will help
to improve their harvest, increase their sales volume and expand their
agricultural cultivation. Government should also encourage cooperatives and
individuals to establish more micro finance institutions so as to reach the
poor traders who lack finance to improve their business. The poor
business men and women should also be made to understand that borrowing loan
from the micro finance banks is not as tedious as borrowing from the
conventional banks. This will encourage them to access the credit facilities
offered by the non-financial institutions.
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Pages:41-48
How to cite this article:
Esther Ijeoma Awuzie "Micro finance and business growth of small and medium enterprises in Benue state Nigeria". International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, Vol 11, Issue 10, 2025, Pages 41-48
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