Effects of Microcredit Scheme on Rural Entrepreneurship Development in Nigeria: A Case Study of Women of Ovia North East, Edo State

Abstract

The dream of the United Nation's Millennium Development Programme to which 189 countries including Nigeria pledged to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015 can only be achieved if microcredit scheme is given its rightul place in funding small scale entrepreneurs. This study focuses on the effects of Microcredit Scheme on Rural Entrepreneurship Development in Nigeria: A Case Study of Women of Ovia North East, Edo State. The aim is to establish if the availability of microcredit can contribute significantly to the development and sustainability of the rural woman entrepreneur. A total of 240 copies of questionnaire were randomly distributed on one-on-one basis to rural women micro-entrepreneurs and 225 were found usable. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0 for windows was employed for the estimation of data and analysis was by Fstatistics (ANOVA) and correlation coefficient presented in a correlation matrix. In the review part of the study, it is revealed that one of the problems that microfinance institutions have faced in Nigeria is that it has always included social welfare projects which divert attention from financial sustainability to welfare issues. However, the study submits that the availability and access to credit increases business profit and hence standard of living of the rural poor. Therefore, all tiers of government in terms of strategic policy formulation and bailout funds to microfinance banks to enable them operate freely and effectively in the nooks and crannies of Edo State in particular and other States of Nigeria as a whole.