BUSINESS CREDIT AVAILABILITY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN KWARA STATE NIGERIA

The study investigates the influence of business credit availability on the performance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Kwara State, Nigeria. Utilizing a survey research design, data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to a statistically determined sample of 400 SME owners and managers, drawn from a population of 698,613 officially registered SMEs as documented by SMEDAN (2020). Out of the distributed questionnaires, 340 were successfully retrieved, yielding an 85% response rate. Regression analysis reveals that both the simplicity of loan application procedures (SLAP) and business credit accessibility (BCA) have positive and statistically significant effects on SME growth. Specifically, SLAP emerged as the stronger predictor (? = 0.389, p < 0.05), followed by BCA (? = 0.191, p < 0.05), affirming the rejection of the null hypotheses. The study concludes that streamlining financial processes and enhancing access to credit are critical enablers of SME performance. It recommends that financial institutions and policymakers simplify loan procedures and expand access to credit through targeted initiatives to foster sustained growth among SMEs.

0 18 May, 2025

pg: 10

JBMIC PORTAL SYSTEM

Contri. 1+