Promoting Sustainability of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ Financing in Nigeria: Challenges, Necessary Conditions and Prospects

This paper examines the challenges militating against the sustainability of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs’) Financing in Nigeria. An attempt is made to identify and discuss the conditions necessary for sustaining the financing of MSME’s sub-sector while the prospects of its financial sustenance is also assessed. Challenges identified in the study include asymmetric distribution of bank branches, lack of awareness, cumbersome documentation, lack of acceptable Security, inconsistent government policies, poor insurance culture and poor programme monitoring and control. Some of the necessary conditions for sustaining the financing of MSME’s put forward by the paper include the design of bank branch network distribution framework by the Central Bank of Nigeria, improved public sensitization, professional management of financing programmes, liberalization of credit documentation and security requirements. Finally, the research identified the federal government’s renewed efforts in MSMEs’ financing and the recent financial public private partnership as the trajectory to follow in order to achieve financial sustainability for MSME’s sub-sector with a view to accelerating Nigeria’s economic march towards achieving the vision 20-20:20.