UNRAVELLING THE NUANCED EFFECT OF CREDIT TERMS ON CREDIT ACCESSIBILITY OF SMALL ENTERPRISES IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA: A STRCTURAL EQUATION MODELING APPROACH

Abstract

ABSTRACT Small enterprises rely on commercial banks’ credit for their smooth operations. However, commercial banks’ credit terms determine small enterprises ‘access to commercial banks’ credit which invariably determines small enterprises’ performance. In Kogi State small enterprise access to commercial bank credit has been less than impressive. To this end, this study investigated the effect of commercial bank credit terms on small. enterprise performance in Kogi State. To achieve these objectives, the study collected primary data using a structured questionnaire from 375 small enterprise owners across the 21 Local Government Areas in Kogi State. Structural equation modeling (SEM), using Analysis of moment Structures (AMOS) version 22 to analyse the data generated from field work. The findings of the study revealed that credit costs (β = 0.056, p = 0.322) has an insignificant positive effect on small enterprise performance while collateral requirements (β = 0.339, p = 0.000) and repayment conditions (β = 0.303, p = 0.000) have significant positive effects on small enterprises access to credit. The study recommends that the government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), should formulate and implement policies that will encourage commercial banks to adopt credit terms that will both serve the interests of commercial bank owners and owners of small enterprises in Kogi State thereby improving credit accessibility.