THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF BANKING INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

In most agrarian economies like the type that exists in Nigeria, agricultural production provides the needed fulcrum upon which a sustainable development would blossom. Being the main source of food for most of the population, till date, agricultural production remains the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. It provides the means of livelihood for most of the population, a major source of raw materials for the agro-allied industries and a potent source of the much needed foreign exchange.  However, inadequate credit (among other factors) to the agricultural sector led to the downward trend observed in agricultural productivity in Nigeria. To avert such trend, the Federal Government of Nigeria established the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) in 1977 to assist farmers have access to credit as to improve agricultural productivity. The setting up of the ACGSF was predicated on the unwillingness of commercial banks to give loans to smallholder farmers for reasons of high default rate on loan repayment and, therefore high risk, of repayment. In the course of the fund’s operations, a number of problems have been identified as militating against its smooth performance; some of which affected the amount of credit granted to the various agricultural subsectors. Therefore, this study sought to examine (i) the impact of Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund on crop output in Nigeria; (ii) the impact of Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund on livestock output in Nigeria; (iii) the impact of Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund on fisheries output in Nigeria; and (iv) the impact of Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund total fund granted on Agricultural output and productivity in Nigeria. The ex-post facto research design was adopted to enable the researcher make use of secondary data and determine cause-effect relationship during the period, 1978-2008. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) estimation technique was adopted, using SPSS statistical software to test the hypotheses, where Total Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (TACGSF), Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund to crop production (ACGSFCP), Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund to livestock (ACGSFLSP) and Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund to fisheries (ACGSFP) were used as the independent variables while Agricultural Production (AP), Gross Domestic Product Agricultural Crop Production (GDPACP), Gross Domestic Product Agricultural Livestock Production (GDPALS) and Gross Domestic Product Agricultural Fisheries Production (GDPAFP) were used as the dependent variable. The study found that Agricultural Credit guarantee scheme fund for crop production, livestock production and fisheries had significant positive impact on crop, livestock and fisheries productivity in Nigeria for the period of the study and also, the total agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund had significant positive impact on agricultural output in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that stakeholders in the scheme viz: the farmers, lending institutions and government must show greater commitment and dedication for the scheme to achieve its laudable objectives.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page – – – – – – – i
Approval Page – – – – – – – ii
Certification Page – – – – – – – iii
Dedication – – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgements – – – – – – – v
Abstract – – – – – – – vii
Table of Contents – – – – – – – x
List of Figures – – – – – – – xi
List of Appendices – – – – – – – xii

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study – – – – – – 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem – – – – – – 5
1.3 Objectives of the Study – – – – – – 6
1.4 Research Questions – – – – – – 7
1.5 Research Hypotheses – – – – – – 7
1.6 Scope of the Study – – – – – – 8
1.7 Significance of the Study – – – – – – 8
1.8 Definition of Terms – – – – – – 8
References – – – – – – 10

CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Agricultural Financing Policies in Nigeria – – – – 13
2.2 Challenges of agricultural financial policies – – – – 15
2.3 Agricultural Production in Nigeria – – – – 17
2.4 The Agricultural Sector and Nigeria’s Development – – – – 19
2.5 The Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme: Roles, Problems and Prospects – 21
2.6 Structure, Organization and Mandate of the ACGSF – – – – 24
2.7 Overview of the agricultural finance policies in Nigeria- – – – 25
2.7.1 Agricultural Finance Policies Schemes – – – – – 25
2.7.2 Agricultural Finance Policies Programmes – – – – – 27
2.7.3 Agricultural Finance Policies Institutions – – – – – 30
2.8.1 Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) – 31
2.8.2 Agricultural Credit Support Scheme (ACSS) – – – – 33
2.8.3 Micro Credit Fund (MCF) – – – 33
2.8.4 Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN) – – – 34
2.8.5 Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) – – – 35
2.9 Credit Guarantee Schemes in Developing Countries – – – 35
2.10 Agricultural Budget in Nigeria – – – 38
2.11 Agricultural Finance through Bank Lending – – – 44
2.12 Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund on Cash Crops – – – 45
2.13 Agricultural Credit Rationing by Commercial Banks in Nigeria – – 47
2.14 Issues on Banking Lending for Agricultural produce – – – 51
2.15 Lending risks and agricultural loans – – – 53
2.16 Credit Risk Management in Bank Lending to Agriculture – – – 54
2.17 Potentials for diversifying Nigeria’s non-oil exports to non-traditional markets – 55
2.18 Causes of Credit Risks in Agricultural Financing – – – – 57
2.19 Sources of Risks of Agricultural Firms – – – – 58
References – – – – 59
CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design – – – – – 67
3.2 Nature and Sources of Data – – – – – 67
3.3 Model Specification – – – – – 67
3.4 Model Justification – – – – – 67
3.5 Techniques of Analysis 69
References 71

CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
4.1 Presentation of Data – – – – – 72
4.2 Test of Hypotheses – – – – – 75
4.2.1 Test of Hypothesis One – – – – – 75
4.2.2 Test of Hypothesis Two – – – – – 76
4.2.3 Test of Hypothesis Three – – – – – 77
4.2.4 Test of Hypothesis Four – – – – – 78
4.3 Comparison of the Findings with the Objectives of the Study – – – 79
References – – – – – 81

CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Introduction – – – – – 82
5.1 Summary of Findings – – – – – 82
5.2 Conclusion – – – – – 82
5.3 Recommendations – – – – – 84
References – – – – – 86
Bibliography – – – – – 8 Appendices – –

Abstract

The local banking sector has been up against a plethora of financial industry competitors in the struggle for clients, including microfinance groups and online lending platforms. In addition, as the legal and economic environment has evolved, local banks have been under increasing pressure to expand their capacity in order to remain competitive. Mfis banks now have additional tools to increase their competitiveness as a result of new technology and digital disruption. Despite this, there is a scarcity of study on the nature of the influence of various digital marketing tactics on the competitive advantage of microfinance banks. The study’s purpose was to see how social media marketing, search engine optimization, and e-mail marketing influenced microfinance banks’ performance in Nigeria. The investigation was guided by the technology adoption model and the competitive advantage hypothesis. The study employed a quantitative research approach and a descriptive research design. A total of forty one microfinance banks were included in the study’s target demographic. Commercial bank operations managers, chief technology officers, human resource managers, digital marketing managers, and finance managers were selected as respondents. A total of 136 people took part in the research. A systematic questionnaire was used to obtain the information. The study conducted a pre-test of the research instrument with 10% of the sample respondents. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The study’s findings were graphed and analyzed in line with the study’s objectives. The majority of banks, according to the statistics, have employed social media marketing, e-mail marketing, and interactive websites. Social media marketing, search engine optimization, and e-mail marketing all had a positive and significant influence on microfinance institutions’ competitive advantage, according to the correlation findings. Digital marketing tactics were shown to be responsible for 67.2 percent of the variances in bank competitive advantage, according to the regression data. According to the results, commercial banks may obtain a competitive advantage by employing social media marketing, search engine optimization, and e-mail marketing. According to the report, commercial banks should enhance their investment in new technology to help speed the rise of digital-only bank branches and online platforms. According to the survey, commercial banks should also boost their e-mail and social media marketing skills.Microfinance banks will benefit the most from my study since it will give critical information on the effect of specific digital marketing tactics on their institutional competitiveness, which will help them make future choices. Respondents who declined to engage in the study out of fear of their identities being revealed impeded the research as well. This was challenged by submitting a university letter declaring that the research was undertaken only for academic purposes.

ABSTRACT

This study sought to investigate the impact of credit risk management on the performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria using five banks that have highest asset base. We adopted ex-post facto and analytical design. Time series data for the period (2000 to 2019) were collated from the annual reports and financial statement of selected deposit money banks in Nigeria.  The base year, 2000, is justified based on the adoption of universal banking system. Three hypotheses were proposed and tested using ordinary least square (OLS) regression model. Non-performing loan ratio was used as the independent variable, while the dependent variables were total loans and advances ratio (TLAR), return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE). Descriptive statistics and regression technique were used to analyze the behavior of both dependent and independent variables. Other tests were done at 5% probability level of significance. The findings reveal that credit risk management had a positive and significant impact on total loans and advances, credit risk management had a positive and non- significant impact on the return on asset, credit risk management had a positive and non- significant impact on the return on equity of deposit money banks in Nigeria.It is recommended that bank managers need to put more efforts to credit risk management, especially to control the NPL. Evaluate critically borrowers’ ability to pay back. There is need to strengthen bank lending rate through effective and efficient regulation and supervisory framework. Banks should try as much as possible to strike a balance in their loan pricing decisions