Micro Financing as Strategy for Poverty Alleviation and Economic Empowerment in Osun State, Nigeria

The focus of this study is to examine the Impact the micro loans being granted by Nigerian Financial Institutions have on the poverty level and the empowerment of the people of Osun State of Nigeria as evidenced from selected Financial Institutions in Osun State. The methodology adopted was descriptive survey research method; this method of research was used in order to analyze microcredit and loans from financial institutions that serve as catalyst for economic growth and reduction in poverty level in the State. The population of the study is financial institutions in Osun State; 5 commercial and 5 micro finance banks were selected, using simple random sampling procedure. 10 staff was administered questionnaire in each bank, making 100. However, 85 questionnaires were properly returned and accounted for, while 15 were unreachable. Simple regression analysis was used to test hypothesis in order to determine the degree of connections between the variables with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23. Findings show that availability of microcredit is statistically significant in predicting the dependent variable (reducing poverty). Keywords: Strategy, Financial Institutions, Commercial Banks, Microfinance Banks, Microcredit, Poverty Reduction. Economic Empowerment. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-5-0