Abstract

This study investigated impediments to accessing LAPO microfinance bank loan and business performance among market women in Benin metropolis. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. The survey design was adopted for the study. The descriptive aspect of the design was used to provide evidence on the market women perceptions on the various subject matters while the population of the study consisted of all the 15,280 registered market women. The sample size of the study was 390 respondents and was selected through multi stage sampling techniques. The instrument for data collection was a self-made questionnaire and was validated by three experts while the reliability was done through test re- test reliability and analysed using Cronbach Alpha reliability to obtain coefficient scores of 0.81. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage mean scores and standard deviation for the research questions raised while inferential statistics of regression was used to test the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that significant impediments such as institutional (guarantor requirements, staff attitudes), financial (high interest rates), and psychological (fear of default) that pose barriers to loan accessibility for market women in Benin Metropolis. However, for those who successfully access LAPO Microfinance Bank loans, the results show significant improvements in business performance, including increased sales, profits, and expansion. It is believed that if these recommendations are implemented, market women will have access to LAPO microfinance loan which will foster economic growth and social mobility in developing countries, and also help to ameliorate the income inequality between men and women.