The Impact of Microfinance. Poverty Reduction and Economic Development in Nigeria

      Аннотация: The study presented empirical findings on the impact of Microfinance on poverty reduction and Economic development in Nigeria. It also examined Microfinance as key to poverty alleviation and economic development. It assessed the extent to which Microfinance Institutions had successfully helped the poor to improve their standard of living and social status. The study employed multiple regression analysis of the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique of estimation in order to make tentative predictions concerning outcome variable. The Linear Probability Model was also adopted in the study. This study establishes that Microfinance Programme have impacted the businesses and lives of the beneficiaries (Microfinance Clients) in several positive ways particularly in their economic circumstances. It also gave them access to essential life-enhancing facilities and services. It suggested that Microfinance Institutions in Nigeria should seek long- term capital from the Pensions and Insurance companies so that they can grant larger volumes of loans to greater number of their clients.

Ключевые слова: Microfinance, poverty, economic development, Economic growth, Financial Services, Gross Domestic Product