Authors : U.A.U. Onyebinama and I.C. Onyebinama
Abstract: This study analyzed the impact of micro finance banks on the financial frontier and on the exploitation and development of economic opportunities in the informal sector of the Nigerian economy. The analysis indicates that through deposit mobilization and credit delivery, micro finance banks have substantially expanded the financial frontier thereby significantly integrating the informal sector into the mainstream of the national financial system and consequently contributing to the transformation of the informal sector from subsistence orientation to market orientation. The study contends that micro finance banks are strategically positioned to expand the financial frontier and consequently stimulate the exploitation and development of economic opportunities in the informal sector through the provision of non-traditional banking services such as technical and managerial assistance, sale of output and input purchase financing, machinery and equipment leasing and community development financing. To sustain the impact, micro finance banks need to be strengthened in terms of skilled manpower, effective management and a better capital base, enabling policies and operational guidelines and correspondent relationship with commercial banks.
U.A.U. Onyebinama and I.C. Onyebinama, 2010. Microfinance Banks and Economic Opportunities in the Informal Sector of the Nigerian Economy. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 7: 70-75.