National Microfinance Policy and Poverty Alleviation in Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the thrust of the national microfinance policy; investigated the ease of access to the microfinance facilities by the prospective beneficiaries. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. The population (2,150) consisted of loan beneficiaries of Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and Microfinance Bank in the selected States in Southwestern Nigeria. These were Ogun, Osun and Ondo. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 10% respondents from the study population, making 215 respondents as sample size for questionnaire administration. Interviews were conducted with the managers of all the selected banks. Secondary data were collected from Books, Official Document of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Government Publications, Academic Journals and Articles. Data collected were presented and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. This study revealed that loan requests, loan grants and disbursements period were the key thrusts of the Microfinance policy. It also found out that collateral security is a leading criterion for ease of access to Microfinance loan facilities by the prospective beneficiaries with mean value (????̅=1.03). The study concluded that the National Microfinance Policy has significant impact on poverty alleviation in Southwestern Nigeria.