Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences: Home

Article Title:
The Growth Impact of SMEs in Nigeria
by Dr. Ogbuji Isaac Azubuike, Dr. Johnson Oladimeji. A and Prof. Adegbite Esther Olufunmilayo

Abstract:
The study focuses on the growth impact of SMEs in Nigeria using time series data from 1980 to 2016. Data used in the study were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin (2017) and the World Development Indicators (2017). In the study, the real GDP per capita was used as the dependent variable to proxy economic growth. While the other variables were used as the independent and control variables. The OLS, co-integration test and the ARCH test were used as methodology for the study. In the long run, the result of the study revealed that exchange rate has a positive but insignificant impact on the real GDP per capita whereas investment has a positive and significant impact on the real GDP per capita. More so, labour force has a positive and significant impact on growth while interest rate has a negative but significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria. Furthermore, credit to SMEs sector has positive but insignificant impact on economic growth in Nigeria while credit to the private sector has positive and significant impact on growth. The study thus concludes that commercial banks? loans to the SMEs sector is insufficient and insignificant in driving economic growth in Nigeria and recommends that the Central Bank of Nigeria should make monetary policies that encourage commercial banks to set aside at least 10% of their deposits for the funding of SMEs sector geared towards stimulating growth.

Keywords: SMEs, investment; economic growth; private sector credit; loan to SMEs

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