THE PROBLEM AND PROSPECT OF FINANCING SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF BENCOS BUSINESS CENTRE ENUGU)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Small scale industries, although has no consensus definition, has been known to assume various dimension in different country. In L.L Ahukannah and his college text titled commerce for senior secondary school classified retail shop into: small – scale traders and large – scale trader which means that small scale trade is under retail trade.

          In addition. The parameter could equally be the size of human, sales, capital invested and other resources.

          Finance on other hand has been defined by Mr. Joseph Iloh in three prospective view namely:

vAccording to layman’s prospective – to a layman finance is the total volume of cash in hand and at bank.

vAccording to investors prospective – it is the provision of fund as at very time that investment is ripped or ready.

vAccording to academic “ prospective – finance is the body of knowledge packaged to train a person and get him qualified as a professional.

          Nevertheless, this study attempt to examine the various problems faced by small scale business in Nigeria especially in securing adequate finance and other problem retarding the progress of business in Enugu in Nigeria.

          Small scale business according to national development plan (1976 – 1980) on the third general notion has to that small scale industry means an industrial undertaking involving a total investment of one hundred and fifty thousand naira (150000) as maximum.

          However, a framework definition could be given for the purpose of this study. Hence small scale business is a business personally set up, organized, financed and perhaps managed either by the owner or employee. Both could equal run the business simultaneously.

          Notably in the past decades, government used to provide more resources to large scale industry in her plans and policies at the expense of small and medium scale industry.

          But today, following the importance of small scale enterprises in promoting economic self – reliance has gained increasing recognition in many developing countries such as Nigeria especially with the realization and acceptance that import substitution strategies of many large scale enterprises