Empowering Nigerian women entrepreneurs through microfinance

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of microfinance interventions on the psychological and economic conditions of women entrepreneurs. Specifically, it focused on 15 women entrepreneurs who had benefited from micro loans and leases from the Federal University of Technology Microfinance Bank (FMB) in the Nigerian city of Minna. A thematic analysis of the interview sessions with these women revealed that both microfinance interventions had a significant positive impact in empowering them psychologically and economically. However, it was recommended that for this positive impact to be amplified to include more women entrepreneurs, the qualifying requirements had to be made more flexible by adopting a social collateral approach rather than the traditional physical collateral approach currently adopted.