ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT OF MICROFINANCE BANKS TOWARDS POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

Poverty is one of the major economic problems of Nigeria. The country, with over 91 million people in 2018 was ranked by United Nations (UN) and the World Poverty Check as the headquarter of extreme poverty. Successivegovernments have introduced various strategies including the establishment of Microfinance Banks (MFBs) in December 2005 with poverty alleviationas one of the objectives. Unfortunately, there is no concrete evidence of poverty reduction or alleviation in different parts of Nigeria, especially Anambra State since 2005. This motivated the researcher to conduct this study and assess the impacts of MFBstowards poverty alleviation in Anambra State Nigeria since the formulation of Microfinance Policy Supervisory and Regulatory Framework (MPSRF) in December, 2005. This study employed a survey research method and adopted financial intermediation theory as its theoretical framework. The sample was drawn through a multi-stage stratified random sampling with the customers of 84 MFBs in Anambra State. 500 copies of questionnairewere distributed to the customers of MFBs while 410 were retrieved and analyzed using descriptive statistics (ordinary least square regression with E-view version 10. The findings of the study revealed positive contribution of MFBs to poverty alleviation and improvement in the income related activities of households in Anambra State. Recommendations offered for improved service delivery of MFBs include: acquisition of appropriate infrastructure, improvement in the financial and non- financial services and quality of staff, restriction of activities of deposit money banks in rural areas and increased supervisory role of the monetary authority among others.