Financial Performance, Corporate Governance and Microfinance Institutions Sustainability in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between financial performance and Microfinance sustainability, with interest on the impact of corporate governance in improving or otherwise of financial performance of microfinance banks in Nigeria. This interest was provoked by the fact that notwithstanding the introduction of corporate governance in Nigeria, there are still cases of the folding up of many microfinance institutions. Therefore, the study sought answers to: what is the relationship between financial performance and microfinance sustainability? What is the impact of board size and composition on financial performance? And what is the impact of the composition of board committees on financial performance? Using quantitative empirical method on selected microfinance banks in the South East Nigeria, the study employed the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) analysis on secondary data collected from financial reports of the selected banks for a period of thirteen (13) years (2005-2017). The study used the board of directors as the proxy for corporate governance, with Board size and composition as independent variables and Profit after Tax as dependent variables. The result shows that the link between board size and profitability does not imply board size to increase profitability as number of shareholders has negative relationship with profit before tax. Rather, the result found a positive relationship between equity of MFIs and profit after tax, which means that the higher the equity of MFIs, the higher their profitability. Therefore, the study recommends that the MFIs should concentrate more on raising share capital as well as constituting efficient boards and committees for effective corporate governance that will result in the sustainability of the MFIs.