Influence of Microfinance Bank Products Accessibility on Small Scale Enterprises Performance

Abstract

This study examined the influence of   the Microfinance bank products accessibility on Small scale enterprises (SSEs) in Osun State, Nigeria.  Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The population for the study comprised all microfinance banks and small scale enterprises in Osun State. Thirty (30) MFBs were purposively sampled and For Hundred and Fifty (450) SSEs were randomly sampled. Two sets of questionnaires designed to collect data were tested for reliability using Cronbach’s alpha: QMFB (r = 0.89) and QSSEs(r = 0.70). Data were analysed using tables, frequencies as well as simple percentages while multiple regressions were used to test hypotheses one and two at 0.05 level of significance.   Degree of accessibility to MFB products was measured using savings account (92%), current account (54.2%) and business loan (52.3%). A regression analysis designed to examine the influence of MFB products accessibility on SSEs’ performance revealed that MFB products accessibility perception jointly predicted changes in SSEs total capital given F(8,318) = 17.936;  number of employees F(8,318)  = 4.136;  sales F (8,318) =15.316;  and profit F(8,318) = 15,699;  all values being significant at 0.05 level. In conclusion, activities of MFBs impacted on the SSEs in the study area given the predicted values of financial product accessibility on sales and profit but with a limited effect on total capital and number of employees engaged.