Microfinancing of Small-Scale Enterprises: A Panacea to Poverty Alleviation in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

Microfinance has attained cosmopolitan recognition. Yet, the real contribution of microfinance in Nigeria and of course, all over the world, is fluctuating and conflicted. This treatise shall enumerate the scientific relationship between microfinance loans and poverty reduction. The method used in collecting data in this piece is the questionnaire. To this end, 16 local government areas across Ekiti State shall be directly administered with the questionnaire. In the meantime, this study finds that poverty alleviation programme in Ekiti State has not indeed met the primary objective for which it came into being, even though microfinance is viewed as effective means of poverty alleviation and by extension a very important means for the poor to access the loan. On the other hand, this work recommends that microfinance be sustained and redefined for poverty alleviation programme with wide outreach in Ekiti State. Also, Micro-Finance Institutes (MFIs) should improve their supervisory capacity on its loans beneficiaries and government should endeavour to tackle poverty through its formidable and sustainable economic policies formulations.

Keywords: Poverty Reduction, Micro-financing, Small and Medium Scale, Alleviating Poverty

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