MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS ACTIVITIES AND MICROENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA

The development of micro scale business in a developing economy cannot be overstated due to the economic contribution and nature of the business. One of the challenges of micro businesses identified by scholars in developing economy like Nigeria is accessibility of funds which microfinance institutions have been saddled with that responsibility. Thus, there is need to see how the microfinance institutions are lifting to expectation. Therefore, the study investigated how the microfinance institutions activities has impacted on the micro business development in selected Southwest States in Nigeria. The study employed descriptive research design with stratified sampling technique. Primary data was collected via questionnaire and 384 copies of questionnaire were administered but 297 were returned and useful for the analysis. The findings using regression analysis revealed that financial service of microfinance institutions has positive but insignificant effect on microenterprises development. Non-financial service of microfinance institutions has a positive and significant effect on microenterprises development in Southwest Nigeria. It is concluded that non-financial service influenced microenterprises development in the study. It was recommended that microfinance institutions in Southwest Nigeria should continue to offer non-financial services in terms of organizing training programs, give support to expand business, offer technical advice and give competent advice to the operators of micro scale enterprises Microfinance banks should lessen the conditions associated with their financial services to the operators of micro enterprises so that these operators may be able to access micro credit.