Monday, 1 July 2013

FINANCING OPTIONS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE


FINANCING OPTIONS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN NIGERIA


Abstract

Government has identified the need for the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME). One of such sectoral strategies is the introduction and pursuit of policies such as concessionary financing to encourage and strengthen the growth of SMEs in Nigeria.  In this paper, a random sample of 10 formal/ informal finance sources and 20 SMEs in 6 selected Small and Medium industries in Kaduna and Abuja have been studied. We found that financing options for SMEs are numerous but access to these funds has been difficult in spite of several government initiatives. We also found that the Small and Medium Industries Equity Investments Scheme (SMIEIS) fund lacks standard guideline for fund disbursement, the unregulated informal finance institutions finance the SMEs much more than the formal sources and the informal sources make up more than half of the SMEs’ mix of funds. It is recommended that the informal source of financing is a potentially important source of micro financing. Savings in them should be further encouraged through regulation, government intervention by way of active participation of community and development banks in local business associations. SMEs should consider all financing options that maximize the value of the business enterprise.

Suleiman A.S. Aruwa
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