cooperative financing method and microfinance banks...

Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 5(7):67-72 (ISSN: 2141-7024)

COOPERATIVE FINANCING METHOD AND MICROFINANCE BANKS IN NIGERIA:

MODELING RELATIONSHIP FOR CREDIT DELIVERY EFFICIENCY

Oladejo Moruf O and Oyedele K. S

Department of Management and Accounting,

Faculty of Management Sciences.

Ladoke Akintola University o Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.

Corresponding Author: Oladejo Moruf O ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abstract

Despite the various efforts to enhance credit access to the poor and low income group in Nigeria, poverty rate is yet to

be significantly reduced. The financial sector reform in Nigeria that led to the establishment of microfinance banks is

expected to have effect on cooperative and sustainable development. There is a dearth of Studies in Nigeria regarding

Cooperatives and Microfinance Banks relationship for microcredit delivery. This paper investigated the effect of

Cooperative Societies and Microfinance banks (MFBs) relationship on credit delivery efficiency in Nigeria. The data

collected though the questionnaires and interview were sorted edited and coded in a table. Chi square was used to test

the hypothesis on the perception of 138 selected members of Cooperatives and staff of Microfinance banks (MFBs) in

Osun state. The result of the Analysis and Chi square test confirm positive effect of the synergy between Cooperatives

and MFBs on credit delivery efficiency. The study suggests development of policy framework that would recognize the

synergy of Cooperatives and MFBs and as such that there is a formal business relationship between them as a matter of

policy. This is expected to stimulate growth of SMEs for sustainable development.

Keywords: cooperative organizations, cooperative financing method, microfinance banks, micro credit, microfinance

policy

INTRODUCTION Despite the various efforts at enhancing credit access to

the poor and low income group in Nigeria, poverty is yet

to be significantly reduced CBN Report 2011). Evidence

from the literature suggests that Co-operatives are the

only form of organization meeting so concretely all

dimensions of poverty. For instance Onaolapo and

Oladejo, (2011) suggested a government policy

acknowledging the micro credit power of Cooperatives

and integration into the microfinance policy to achieve

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to

poverty reduction in Nigeria. This corroborates the view

of Oladejo, (2011) that the Nigerian Micro finance Banks

(MFBs) should be a one customer bank whereby only

Cooperative Societies are made the sole customers of

MFBs as a matter of policy to facilitate credit delivery to

the poor. The international Cooperative year 2012 as

declared by the United Nations General Assembly

resolution 64/136 on December 21, 2009 was to

showcase the contribution and impact of cooperative to

the socio-economic well-being of the participants among

other reasons (Oluyombo, 2012). The experience of

Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and other programmes like

it shows that micro credit is effective in helping poor

people to use their own efforts and creativity to meet their

basic needs (Yunus, 2008).

In Nigeria, as well as in most other countries of the

world, small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

represent the vast majority (99%) of all enterprises

(OECD, 1998). Their contribution to economic growth,

job creation and innovation is widely recognized

(Audretsch and Keilbach, 2004; Van Stel et al., 2005).

They are known all over the world to account for

substantial proportion of industrial build up in many

developed nations. The nature of their operations, capital

requirement for setting-up and the employment

generation effects made them the focus of most

developmental efforts in less developed countries.

However, many of them do not survive their first years in

business (Almus, 2004; Persson, 2004), and as such, are

not able to provide these benefits to the society in which

they are located. Meanwhile, poverty reduction has over

the years been of great concern and challenge to every

government the world over. Thus, attention is being

given to promotion of medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

globally as a tool for poverty alleviation and sustainable

development.

The study by Adereti and Oladejo (2010) showed that

small business in Nigeria need the microfinance service

to improve performance and for sustainable development.

Previous studies have confirmed failure of past

microfinance efforts of the Nigerian government towards

poverty reduction (Akanji, 2006). According to Alabi,

Alabi and Ahiawodzi (2007), the frustrations of accessing

credit facilities from formal systems compel the poor and

informal business entrepreneurs to resort to different non-

banking and informal arrangements to access funds for

their operations. This has serious implications for a

country like Nigeria where the economy is largely

characterized by micro and small businesses as observed

Basu et al (2004).

The modern microfinance according to Dunford (2006)

has roots in the cooperative movement. Further to this is

the observation of Kevin, Louis & Mark (2000) that one

means for the entrepreneurial firms to overcome the

constraint of access to credit is by cooperating with either

other entrepreneurial firms or possibly with larger,

Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 5(7):67-72

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67


established, resource-rich firms. The extent to which

partnership between Cooperative Societies and

Microfinance banks (MFBs) can facilitate efficiency in

credit delivery to Small and Medium sized Enterprises for

sustainable development shall be the focus of this current

research attempt.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Despite the efforts and resources devoted to fighting

poverty by the Nigeria government empowerment

programmes, the problem has remained intractable. As

user-owned organizations, Cooperatives have been used

as a model for individual self-help and empowerment that

strengthens bonds leading to greater community

awareness and involvement as such becomes a vehicle for

micro credit delivery. Testing the Cooperatives strategies

along with credit delivery strength of MFBs in Nigeria is

expected to give insight into the state of sustainable

development in the continent of Africa. There is a dearth

of Studies in Nigeria regarding Cooperatives and

Microfinance Banks relationship for poverty eradication.

This paper remains germane by investigating the effect of

Cooperative Societies and MFBs relationship on credit

delivery efficiency to SMEs in Nigeria with a view to

proffer solution to the problems and posing the following

questions:

(i) How can Cooperative financing method and

MFBs relationship foster credit delivery?

(ii) Will the relationship between Cooperatives and

MFBs cause poverty reduction?

The following Null hypotheses will be tested to achieve

the objectives of the study

HO1: A synergy between Cooperatives and MFBs

financing methods will not significantly improve credit

delivery efficiency

In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the paper

is divided into five sections. Apart from section one that

introduced the paper, section two discusses the literature

review and conceptual underpinnings, section three

described the methodology of the study, section four

presented the results and section five is for conclusion

and policy recommendation.

LITERATURE REVIEW There is a growing trend of global acceptability of

cooperative societies as enhancer-factor of micro

enterprises and poverty reduction strategy (Asaolu 2004;

Alabi et al 2007; Olesin 2007; Oladejo 2008; Yunus

2008; Narayan and Petesch 2009; Oladejo, 2011)

Affirming these views, the U.S.A Cooperative Business

Survey Report (2005) revealed the economic impact of

U.S - based cooperative businesses as significant,

reflecting the ubiquity of co-operatives, the large number

of Americans who are their owners or customers, and the

role co-operatives play in generating business activity,

including jobs and economic growth. Ayoola (2006)

opined that the impressive performance of the savings

and credit cooperative can be seen in the establishment of

cooperative banks in the western, eastern and northern

Nigeria respectively and has continued to make a

positive impact as truly "people" bank. Even Cooperative

Societies existed as a rural bank in their various local

areas before the government introduced the concept of

rural banking in 1987 and the defunct Peoples Bank of

Nigeria (PBN) in 1988. This record of Cooperative

performance suggests a synergy between the

Cooperatives and Microfinance Banks in Nigeria for

improved credit delivery to the poor and SMEs

development..

OVERVIEW OF THE NIGERIAN

MICROFINANCE POLICY

The revised National Microfinance Policy Framework

for Nigeria (2011) is designed to enhance the provision of

diversified microfinance services on a sustainable basis

for the economically active poor and low income

households. This revised policy is prepared in exercise of

the powers conferred on the CBN by the provisions of

Section 33 (1) (b) of the CBN Act No. 7 of 2007 and in

pursuance of the provisions of Sections 56-60 (a) of the

Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act [BOFIA] No.

25 of 1991 [as amended]. Furthermore, an assessment of

the microfinance sub-sector, following the launching of

the policy revealed some improvements. These include

increased awareness among stakeholders such as

governments, regulatory authorities, investors,

development partners, financial institutions and technical

assistance providers on microfinance. Specifically, a total

of 866 microfinance banks have been licensed,

Microfinance Certification Programme (MCP) for

operators of microfinance banks put in place and the

promotional machinery beefed up. Accordingly,

entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the opportunities

offered by increasingly demanding for financial services

such as credit, savings, payment services, financial advice

and non financial services. Despite the above

development, a large percentage of Nigerians are still

excluded from financial services.

The microfinance industry in Nigeria had been

confronted by numerous challenges since the launch of

the Microfinance Policy Framework in December, 2005.

Coming on the heels of the banking sector consolidation,

many of those adversely affected found their way into

microfinance. Thus, a significant number of the newly

licensed MFBs were established or operated like mini-

commercial banks‟. Also, the erstwhile community banks

(CBs) that converted to MFBs did not fare any better. The

impact of the global financial crisis of 2007/2008 on

MFBs was more severe than anticipated. Credit lines

dried up, competition became more intense and credit risk

increased to the extent that many clients of MFBs were

unable to pay back their loans owing to the hostile

economic environment.

The revised microfinance policy framework (2011) now

has three categories of Microfinance Banks (MFBs) as

listed below:

• Category 1: Unit Microfinance Bank A Unit

Microfinance Bank is authorized to operate in

one location. It shall be required to have a

minimum paid up capital of N20 million

68


(twenty million Naira) and is prohibited from

having branches and cash centres.

• Category 2: State Microfinance Bank A State

Microfinance Bank is authorized to operate in

one State or the Federal Capital Territory

(FCT). It shall be required to have a minimum

paid up capital of N100 million (one hundred

million Naira) and is allowed to open branches

within the same State or the FCT, subject to

prior written approval by the CBN for each new

branch.

• Category 3: National Microfinance Bank A

National Microfinance Bank is authorized to

operate in more than one State including the

FCT. It shall be required to have a minimum

paid up capital of N2 billion (two billion Naira),

and is allowed to open branches in all States of

the Federation and the FCT, subject to prior

written approval by the CBN.

Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and Cooperative

Societies Relationship for Poverty Reduction In Nigeria, both the governmental and non-governmental

organizations are now placing much emphasis on group

approach in extending credits to the low income

producers (Olomola, 2002). Although the policy view of

Microfinance banks (MFBs) as community based banks,

most of these good qualities of a micro credit delivery

channel are lacking. Past micro credit efforts of the

government have failed for lack of understanding of the

micro credit philosophy of the poor and low income

group (Akanji, 2006; Akintoye and Oladejo, 2008;

Oladejo, 2010). According to the revised microfinance

policy (2011), an existing NGO-MFI or Financial

Cooperative which intend to operate as MFB can either

incorporate a subsidiary MFB while still carrying out its

NGO operations or transform to a MFB. Such institutions

must obtain operating license and shall be required to

meet the stipulated provisions in the revised Regulatory

and Supervisory Guidelines for MFBs. This provision

allows Cooperatives to transform into or own MFB as its

subsidiary. However it is not necessary for Cooperatives

to transform into or operate MFB outfit to enhance credit

delivery to the poor.

The current work proposes a synergy between

Cooperative organizations and the Microfinance banks

(MFBs) as such that the MFBs will be a one customer

banks. Cooperative method can be modeled into the

policy by simply mandating the MFBs to link up with the

registered Cooperative Societies in their areas in term of

saving mobilization and credit delivery. Rather than

dealing with individuals, they should be made to operate

accounts for the Cooperative Societies which in turn as a

group disburse loan and credits to members in a usual

cooperative manner. Individual members will then pay

the loan back through the selected Cooperative Societies

to their respective MFBs.

This means that only Cooperative Societies would be the

customers to the MFBs in a form of financial

intermediation and fund mobilization. Since the MFBs

are licensed by the CBN, the government microfinance

schemes could be directed through to the Cooperatives

for effective delivery to the poor. The repayment of such

by the Cooperative members would not be as difficultly

experienced by banks. This arrangement does not affect

corporate performance of Deposits money banks since

according to the microfinance policy framework, Deposit

Money Bank (DMB) wishing to engage in microfinance

services can continue to do so through a designated

Department/Unit and/or offer microfinance as a financial

product. Nothing prevents the Holding Company having

a DMB as a subsidiary from investing in or owning an

MFB (CBN Report, 2011).

PROBLEMS OF COOPERATIVE METHOD

There are some factors that affect the performance of

Cooperative Societies in discharging micro credit roles

effectively and perhaps the reasons for lack of interest by

the policy makers in Nigeria. Generally the capacity of

Cooperative Societies to provide fund to the poor and low

income group is limited by inadequate capital base

(Asaolu, 2004). For instance some Cooperative Societies

maintain as low as 50,000 naira a capital suggesting the

maximum amount they can give out as loan to members.

The other critical element according to Akinwunmi

(2006) was leadership. If there is purposeful leadership, if

leaders are transparent, dedicated and truly serving, the

cooperative society will succeed. Poor accounting and

record keeping has crippled the activities of most

cooperative societies in Nigeria (Asaolu, 2004; Owojori

and Oladejo, 2009). The general problems facing the

cooperatives are due to political and socio-economic

factors as identified by mass mobilization for social and

economic recovery (MAMSER, 1988).

METHODOLOGY Survey research design was chosen because the sampled

elements and the variables that are being studied are

simply being observed as they are without making any

attempt to control or manipulate them. Data were

collected from a sample of stakeholders in Cooperatives

and Microfinance banks (MFBs) in Osun state to

determine the combined effect of Cooperative method

and MFBs on poverty reduction in Nigeria. As at January

2014 the number of cooperatives was 5032 while that of

microfinance banks stood at 32. The independent

variables are Cooperative financing method and MFBs

credit delivery system while the dependent variable is the

poverty reduction However, the study was restricted to

Osun State. The choice Osun State stems from the fact

that the concentration and predominance of Cooperative

societies in Osun State is easily identifiable. Also For

effective coverage and lower cost, purposive sampling

technique was used to select the participating

stakeholders in Cooperative organizations and MFBs in

the state. A simple random sampling technique was

however used to select respondents totaling 25

Cooperative Societies, Osun State Cooperative

Federation, Office of Director of Cooperative Services in

Osun State. Also, eight MFBs spreading to three

senatorial districts in the state were selected for the study.

All these constituted our sample size with four

respondents each in a particular Cooperative Society and

the two respective Cooperative bodies and five

69


respondents from the eight sampled MFBs making a total

of 156 respondents that assisted in our study. Out of the

156 questionnaire administered 138 (88.46 %) were

found well completed and useful for the purpose of the

study.

Data collected from the questionnaire were analysed,

summarised, and interpreted accordingly with the aid of

descriptive statistical technique of simple percentage.

Chi-square was used to measure the discrepancies

existing between the observed and expected frequency

and to proof the level of significance in testing stated

hypotheses. The trends, and patterns and relationship

among data were identified and interpreted.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION Findings revealed that cooperative method and MFBs

synergy has economic impact. The respondents perceived

the synergy as a good strategy for microcredit delivery in

Nigeria as it would save a lot of funds that could be

directed to the poor. The only areas of clear disagreement

were the facts that Cooperatives lack adequate fund to

deliver credits like MFBs and that larger percentage of

members of Cooperatives are low income earners.

37.67% believed that Cooperatives has enough fund to

deliver credits to the poor like MFBs. Also 39.82% were

of the view that not all members of Cooperatives are low

income earners. This implies that though Cooperatives

may not have adequate fund to deliver microcredit as

evidenced from the earlier works of Abdul Kadir, 1985;

Asaolu, 2004; Oladejo, 2008 among others, they possess

the potentials to deliver and they do deliver micro credit.

Further the implication of the view of 39.82% that not all

members of the Cooperatives are poor is that some

members belong to higher income group. For instance

some ‘work place Cooperatives’ do have members on

higher salary scale that participate in Cooperatives to

enhance their living standards. The analysis and

hypotheses tested are hereby presented in the table below

Table 1: Synergy between Cooperatives and MFBs for Improved Credit Delivery Respones and Likert Rating SA

5

A

4

UN

3

SD

2

D

1

1. Relationship will make for adequate fund delivery to

the poor

24

17.39%

88

63.77%

08

5.79%

12

8.69%

06

4.34%

2. Ease of saving mobilization and financial intermediation 30

21.73%

68

49.27%

06

4.34%

24

17.39%

10

7.25%

3. Quick credit access by the poor 32

23.19%

86

62.31%

03

2.17%

06

4.34%

11

7.97%

4 Ease of identification and tracing the location of

borrowers

22

15.94%

72

52.17%

24

17.39%

08

5.79%

12

8.69%

5 .Channel for promoting government empowerment

programmes

16

11.59%

94

68.11%

11

7.97%

07

5.07%

10

7.25%

6. Improved financial performance for MFBs 28

20.29%

90

65.21%

05

3.62%

06

4.34%

09

6.52%

7. Enhanced Cooperative development 33 23.91%

72 52.17%

06 4.34%

08 5.79%

04 2.89%

8. MFBs were to serve the low income group and the poor 23

16.67%

89

64.49%

08

5.79%

09

6.52%

09

6.52%

9 Cooperatives serve the financial and social needs of their

members

24

17.39%

90

65.21%

11

7.97%

03

2.17%

10

7.24%

10. Cooperatives lack of adequate fund can be provided by

MFBs

12

8.69%

64

46.37%

10

7.25%

22

15.94%

30

21.73%

11. Larger percentage of members of Cooperatives are low

income earners

30

21.73%

48

34.78%

05

3.62%

24

17.39%

31

22.46%

12. Promoting the poor and low income group will

improve economic growth and development

22

15.94%

90

65.21%

10

7.25%

05

3.62%

11

7.97%

Source: Field Survey 2014

From the above Table I, 81.16% agreed on Relationship

will make for adequate fund delivery to the poor

13.08% disagreed while 5.79% were neutral. 71.00 %

agree Ease of saving mobilization and financial

intermediation, while 24.63% disagreed 4.34% were

neutral. 85.5 % agree that synergy will make for quick

credit access by the poor while 12.28% disagreed and

2.17 were undecided. 68.11% agreed that relationship of

COOP and MFBs will promote Ease of identification and

tracing the location of borrowers , 17.39% disagreed

while 14.48% were neutral. 79.7% agreed that the

synergy would be a good channel for promoting

government empowerment programmes while 12.32%

disagreed 7.97% were neutral. 85.50% agreed that

synergy will improve financial performance of

MFBs\while 10.86%disagreed 3.62% were neutral.

76.08% agreed that synergy will bring about enhanced

Cooperative development, 8.68 disagreed while 4.34%

were undecided. 81.16% agreed on MFBs were to serve

the low income group and the poor, 13.04 disagreed

while 5.79 could not decide. 82.60% agreed on the view

that Cooperatives serve the financial as well as social

needs of their members, 9.41 disagreed while 7.97% were

neutral. 55.03% agreed on the fact that Cooperatives lack

of adequate fund can be provided by MFBs, 37.67%

disagreed while 7.25% were neutral. 56.51% agreed that

larger members of Cooperatives are low income earners,

39.82 disagreed while 3.62 could not decide. 81.15%

agreed that promoting the poor and low income group

will improve economic growth and development of a

country, 11.59% disagreed while 7.25% were neutral.

70


TEST OF HYPOTHESIS Decision: Since the chi-squares calculated (X2-cal) are

greater than chi-square tabulated (X2-tab) which makes

all the figures to be highly statistically significant with

the probability of F = 0.000, we reject the Null hypothesis

and accept alternative hypothesis that a synergy between

Cooperatives and MFBs method will significantly

improve credit delivery efficiency.

Table 2: Chi-square Analysis table of Relationship

between Synergy Involving Cooperatives and MFBs for

Improved Credit Delivery S/N Relationship Pearson Chi-

Square (Value

Pr

(Value)

Remark

1 Q1 VS Q2 276.65321 0.000 Significant

















18 Q3VS Q6 402.1415 0.000 Significant




Source: Computations and Out-Put of STATA 10 based

on Author’s Field Survey ` (2014).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The study concludes from analyses and test of hypothesis

that both Cooperatives and Microfinance banks are

effective micro credit delivery channels working in

different directions but are significant to sustainable

development through promotion of SMEs.

In the light of the above, the following suggestions may

be found useful:

a) Development of policy framework that would

recognize the synergy of Cooperatives and

MFBs and as such that there is a formal business

relationship between them as a matter of policy.

b) The institutional environment should provide for

a rapid, simple and affordable registration

process of cooperatives and create national data

base for all registered Cooperatives in the

country.

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