Effect of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises MSMEs in Sustainable Rural Development in Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated whether Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises could accelerate sustainable rural development in Nigeria. Through conceptual, theoretical and empirical reviews of existing literature and statistical analyses, the results provide empirical evidence on the relationship of MSMEs and rural development. The study adopted a sample of 336 small business owners that operate in the rural areas of Ihiala, Ogbaru and old Aguata LGAs of Anambra State of Nigeria. The study tested two hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. A percentage frequency and OLS regression technique were employed for data analyses. The results showed that government involvement has no significant effect on MSMEs development in the Anambra State of Nigeria, Furthermore, the development of MSMEs has29% significant effect on rural development in Anambra State. The study, therefore, infers that the development of MSMEs is capable of opening up rural areas in a developing economy like Nigeria. Increased business start-ups, use of indigenous technologies, business and customer growths are small business enhancing features that can be improved to achieve sustainable rural development in Nigeria.