Effect of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ Access to Credit Services and Employment Creation on Poverty Level in Nigeria

This study examined the effect of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ (MSMEs) access to credit services and MSMEs' employment creation on the poverty level in North-central Nigeria. The mixedmethod research strategy was adopted. The population of this study includes; 5, 757,817 micro, small and medium enterprises in the six states of north-central Nigeria, out of which a sample size of 384 was selected. The Cochran sample size formula (1977) was employed to compute the sample size. The study adopted the use of the Ordinal Regression Method (ORM) as a method of analysis. The findings revealed that MSMEs' access to credit services has a negative impact on the poverty level in north central Nigeria and that MSMEs' employment creation has a negative and significant effect on the poverty level. The study concluded that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Northcentral Nigeria face numerous challenges that have hindered their profitability, sales performance and survival. Challenges range from poor infrastructural development, accessing credit facilities for expansion, and poor managerial skills of the MSMEs’ operators etc. Therefore, the study recommended that the government should provide grants and aid to MSMEs in the North-central to ensure adequate financing of MSMEs enterprise. Also, the government should provide policies that will support and improve the creation of MSMEs in the North-central.