Appraising the Performance of Micro Finance Banking On Rural Development in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

The law establishing Micro Finance (Community Banks) in Nigeria was signed in 1990, the aim of the Federal Government was to use it as a tool to accelerate cash flow and development within the rural economy. This study focuses on assessment of the performance of community banks on the transformation of the rural economy from where they are located. 10 of the 13 functioning community banks in Nasarawa State, Nigeria were randomly selected with at least three each from the three Senatorial districts to enable us view their functional involvement in rural development issues.500 questionnaires were also administered to the customers of these banks, representing a 10% of the total customers within the rural environment. Results from the study indicated that community banks fared well in the area of special loan schemes, rural customer size, direct rural investments, and rural income generation programmes. Variation also existed in the area of composite scores using Z score analysis and appropriate recommendations are suggested accordingly.