IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (IJEFM )

E-ISSN 2545-5966
P-ISSN 2695-1932
VOL. 2 NO. 1 2017

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Challenges in Accessing Financing Opportunities for Small-Scale Businesses in Rumuepirikom Community, Port Harcourt.

Bupo Godwin Omoni, Feniobu Bibotekebo Joseph & Korle Ature Israel

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Abstract

The study examined the extent to which small-scale business owners in Rumuepirikom community have accessed the financing opportunities available to them and the challenges they face. Rumuepirikom is a community in the city of Port Harcourt which is the hub of the oil-rich Niger Delta in Nigeria. The study was guided by two (2) research questions and two hypotheses. The survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was made up of 200 registered small-scale business owners in Kala market in Rumuepirikom community. Data were collected with self-structure questionnaire from 100 small-scale business owners randomly selected from the population. The data were analyzed with mean and standard deviation statistical tools. The findings reveal that small-scale business owners in Rumuepirikom community have accessed available financial opportunities to a low extent (mean of 1.88) and they face challenges of high cost of capital and unusual collateral requirements. The results also show that the respondents differed significantly as to the extent they have accessed available financing opportunities based on their gender. It was recommended that the State and local government authorities should formalize the thrift collection system, financial institutions should reduce their interest on credit facilities and the documentary requirements so as to encourage small business owners to access the financing opportunities

keywords:

Small-scale business, financing opportunities, credit facilities, thrift collection

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