The study of Financial Impediment to the Sustainable Growth and Development of Small-Scale Enterprises Operating in Plateau State, Nigeria employed a descriptive survey design. The study covered only the central senatorial zone in the state with five local governments namely; Pankshin, Mangu, Bokkos, Kanke, and Kanam local government. The population for the study was 206 made up of 57 and 149 registered entrepreneurs and employees of small-scale enterprises in the six local governments in central senatorial zone of Plateau State. Since the total population of the proprietors and the employees are small and manageable no sampling was carried out. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled ‘Financial Impediments to Small-Scale Enterprises Questionnaire’, (FISSEQ). The questionnaire items were developed based on the information gathered from the literature reviewed. The questionnaire was subjected to face-validation by three experts. Two of the validates came from the Department of Vocational Teacher Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and one of them is from department of Vocational and Technical Education, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, in Kaduna State. The reliability of the instrument was done using Cronbach Alpha (α) method. The coefficient result yielded 0.86 which was used to establish the internal consistency of the instrument. The researcher with the help of three research assistants administered the questionnaire to the respondents. The data collected for the study was analyzed using mean to answer the research questions and standard deviation to determine the closeness or otherwise of the responses from the mean, while t -test statistic was used to test the null hypothesis of no significant difference at the probability of 0.05 level of significance at relevant degree of freedom with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). It was found out that inaccessibility of credit facility, government financial regulatory policies, and poor financial management practices impede the growth and development of small scale enterprises in Plateau State. From the findings of the study, it was recommended amongst others that government and other financial institutions operating in Plateau State should make credit facilities available to all categories of small scale enterprise and should ensure adequate monitoring of how the small scale enterprise utilized the funds.

 

Business exists in different forms and sizes. A business can be undertaken on a small scale, medium scale or large scale basis. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are seen as driving forces that promote and contribute immensely to the economic development of any country. Small-Scale Enterprises (SSEs) are the backbone of an economy as major contributors of job creation and play an important role as efficient providers of intermediate goods and services to large firms (Muhammed, 2010).

The concept of Small-Scale Enterprises (SSEs) varies from country to country, region to region and from agencies to agencies. Different authors often use different parameters such as the number of employees, sales volume, turnover and capital to differentiate small, medium and/or big scale enterprises (Ahmed, 2006). However, these parameters do not provide uniform benchmark for all industries. Furthermore, what is a big capital today may become small in years to come (Aremu and Adeyemi, 2010). Consequently, there are as many definitions of SSEs as there are scholars and institutions. Makhbul (2011) stated that small scale industries (SSIs), small scale businesses (SSBs), and small scale enterprises (SSEs) are some of the terms that are used interchangeably to describe small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).

The National Council on Industry (NCI, 2001) categorized SMEs into three major concepts of industrial enterprises in Nigeria: Micro/Cottage Industry, Small-Scale Industry and Medium-Scale Industry. Micro/Cottage Industry is described as an industry with a total capital of not more than N1.5 million, including working capital but excluding cost of land, and/ or a workforce of not more than 10 workers. Small-Scale Industry in the other hand is described as an industry with a total capital of over N1.5million, but not more than N50 million including working capital but excluding cost of land and/or a workforce of 11- 100 workers. The term Medium-Scale Industry refers to as an industry with a total capital of over N50 million, but not more than N200 million, including cost of land, and/or, a workforce of 101-300 workers.

government is meant to act as a business regulator with the overall aim of helping to maintain a climate of confidence and stimulate the activities of the enterprises, so that they can have the respect for the rule of competition (Wahab and Ijaiya, 2010). But on the contrary, government policies seem to have constituted a serious problem to the growth of SSEs. Weak government financial regulatory policies take different forms: regulations governing the starting of business, access to funds, interest rates, taxation and foreign trade (Kasseeah, 2012). In many African countries vis-à-vis Nigeria, business laws are archaic, too complex and too general in relation to SMEs, most of whom tend to be ill informed about these laws. Government regulations on businesses distort the operation of the free market enterprises system and impede competition; many of the regulations require the same level of compliance for both small and large enterprises.

From all the problems mentioned it is obvious that the government have not been able to realign their policy frameworks to combat the deepening crises of development that has plagued SSEs. Therefore, since business ideas cannot survive without proper financing, there is the need to intensify efforts to promote business support services for SSEs with a view to upgrading them to sound and sustainable business entities.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Small scale enterprises (SSEs) and medium enterprises (MEs) form the core of majority of the world’s economies. SMEs contribute to improved living standards, bring about substantial local capital formation and achieve high level of productivity and capability. The sector has also been identified as vehicles for employment generation and providing opportunities for entrepreneurial sourcing, training, development and empowerment. The Federal Office of Statistics of Nigeria stated that small-scale enterprises make up 87% of the economy. As part of the proactive strategies, the federal government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has flagged off the University Entrepreneurship Development Programme (UNEDEP) to promote self-employment among youths from institutions of higher learning. Similarly, the federal government established the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN) as a way of encouraging young entrepreneurs, to stem youth restiveness and their involvement in social vices as well as to engage them in productive economic activities. Furthermore, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently launched a N220 billion Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development fund. The aim was to provide funds at a cheap cost and longer terms compared to what is obtain at commercial banks. Despite the increasing importance attached to small-scale enterprises, a lot of SSEs still find it very difficult to effectively play their role because of the high mortality rate of these small firms especially in Plateu State.

 

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