The IMPACT OF COOPERATIVE THRIFT AND CREDIT SOCIETIES ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MICROENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE

Microenterprise development is usually affected by
accessible finance. Lack of access to credit deters
most microentrepreneurs because the formal sector has
the impression that microentrepreneurs are not
creditworthy. Cooperative Thrift and Credit Societies
have evolved overtime to solve the problem of
inaccessibility to credit and development of
entrepreneurial ability of owners of
microenterprises. Based on the aforementioned the
purpose of this study is to examine the effect of
belonging to an interdependent society like
Cooperative Thrift and Credit society on enterprise
performance and entrepreneurial development of
microentrepreneurs in southwestern Nigeria.
A combination of in-depth interviews, survey
questionnaires and participant observations were used
to collect data. Three types of microentrepreneurs:
members of Cooperative Thrift and Credit societies,
non-members who obtain finance from other sources and
those who did not have access to external finance in
the previous five years were surveyed. A comparative
study of different types of microentrepreneurs was
undertaken. Financial institutions in the study area
were also interviewed to assess their impact on
microenterprise development. The impact was evaluated
using real receipt, client longevity, graduation
schedule and other characteristics of the financial
institutions. Analytical techniques used in the study
include descriptive case study, descriptive
statistics, logistic regression, analysis of variance
(ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and
principal component analysis. The findings of the
study suggested that the entrepreneurial ability,
accessibility to credit and business success of
people in Cooperative Thrift and Credit societies
were better and significantly different from non-members.

Autorentext
Adekunle Bamidele, Research Associate, SEDRD, University of Guelph, Canada; Email: badekunl@uoguelph.ca Adekunle Bamidele is a PhD holder in agricultural economics and business from the University of Guelph. He also has an MBA and MSc Agricultural economics from University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria respectively. He has been involved in policy/economic analysis, rural development and entrepreneurship measurement in both Nigeria and Canada.

Klappentext
Microenterprise development is usually affected by accessible finance. Lack of access to credit deters most microentrepreneurs because the formal sector has the impression that microentrepreneurs are not creditworthy. Cooperative Thrift and Credit Societies have evolved overtime to solve the problem of inaccessibility to credit and development of entrepreneurial ability of owners of microenterprises. Based on the aforementioned the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of belonging to an interdependent society like Cooperative Thrift and Credit society on enterprise performance and entrepreneurial development of microentrepreneurs in southwestern Nigeria. A combination of in-depth interviews, survey questionnaires and participant observations were used to collect data. Three types of microentrepreneurs: members of Cooperative Thrift and Credit societies, non-members who obtain finance from other sources and those who did not have access to external finance in the previous five years were surveyed. A comparative study of different types of microentrepreneurs was undertaken. Financial institutions in the study area were also interviewed to assess their impact on microenterprise development. The impact was evaluated using real receipt, client longevity, graduation schedule and other characteristics of the financial institutions. Analytical techniques used in the study include descriptive case study, descriptive statistics, logistic regression, analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and principal component analysis. The findings of the study suggested that the entrepreneurial ability, accessibility to credit and business success of people in Cooperative Thrift and Credit societies were better and significantly different from non-members.