A Survey of the Perception of the Services of Micro Finance Institutions by the Female Service Users in Benin City, South-South, Nigeria

The study examines the perceptions of the services of the micro financeInstitutions by the women service users, and how the services of microInstitutions affect businesses of the beneficiaries of the micro credit loans.The research design for the study was the survey method. The instruments of data collection were structured questionnaires and in-depth interview. A total of 450questionnaires were administered to the female participants, and senior management personnel of the micro credit institutions were interviewed. The cluster and simple random sampling were used to select the participants for the study. The leaders of registered unions were the informants.The result reveals that the poor services and attitude of officials of micro finance institutions and other problems like the regressive tax regimes, harsh economic climate and patriarchy are negatively affecting the business ventures ofthe loan beneficiaries and by implication the goals of poverty reduction via micro credit scheme . The women beneficiaries are groaning under the burden of loan repayment and meeting other obligations as mothers and wives.This study is applicable in the context of social policy development at thistime when social services delivery is not only poor but at dismal level. Theneed for gender sensitive and social development becomes imperative. Itis critical to social work practice in the context of advocacy, empowerment programs, facilitating and initiating service delivery andCommunity organizing by social workers that will enhance the war againstPoverty and other social impediments against women empowerment inNigeria.