AN ANALYSIS OF ACCESS TO CREDIT MARKETS AND THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL SCALE AGRO- BASED ENTERPRISES IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA

The study was designed to examine access to credit markets and performance by small scale agro-based enterprises in the Niger Delta. A multistage sampling technique was adopted in selecting 264 and 96 agro-based enterprises that accessed informal and formal credit respectively through the use of structured questionnaire and oral interview. The logit model was used to examine the factors that had significant influence on credit access by the enterprises in the region. Results revealed that the factors that significantly influence informal credit access by small scale agro-based enterprises are Gender, Age and Social Capital, while factors that influence formal credit access are Education, Age, Enterprise size and Collateral. Majority of enterprises accessed informal credit but the few that accessed formal credit performed better. Government should ensure easy access to formal finance by small agro-based enterprises in the region as they are the engine of economic development.