Issues in the Management of the Supply-side Financing of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria

Access to financial credit facilities remains top on the list of constraints affecting the development of MSMEs in Nigeria. This state of affairs subsists despite the nation’s robust financial sector. Commercial banks loans portfolio to MSMEs as percentage of total credit to the private sector has been dwindling over time, from 27.04 percent in 1992 to less than one percent in 2012. Driven by the desire to effect a positive change, government has initiated policies and programmes which have produced unsatisfactory results. International best practices identify interventions which can substantially contribute to effective and greater efficiency in financial credit system delivery. Such interventions, modified along the line of a developing economy environment are needed as integral part of efforts to initiate, develop and sustain MSMEs in Nigeria.