Impact Assessment of the Role of Microfinance Banks in Financing Small Scale Enterprises in Delta State, Nigeria

This survey was aimed at determining the role of Microfinance Banks (MFBs) in financing small scale enterprises in Ozoro and Warri parts of Delta State, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised all the MFBs in the two selected parts of Delta State. For the sake of convenience, purposive sampling was employed to select six MFBn branches ( three from each part) for the study. Ten respondents were randomly selected from each of the MFBs and administered copies of a well structured questionnaire used as instrument for data collection. The study showed that Microfinance service, particularly, those sponsored by government, have resulted in an increased level of credit disbursement and gains in agricultural production and other activities, the effects were short- lived, due to the unsustainable nature of the programme. Microfinance banks should increase the interval between asking for loans repayment and the time of granting the loans as this renders useless the study or verification of the borrower feasibility study, more especially under an inflationary period.