Trader-Moni and Economic Development of Petty Traders in Owerri, Nigeria

Abstract

The trader-monias a loan scheme with no collateral, aimed at equipping petty traders with soft loans to enable them grow their businesses and increase earnings. In spite of the execution and implementation of the scheme, petty traders may not have been able to expand their businesses to a reasonable extent or, increased their earnings. Thus, this study investigated if trader-moni has led to the economic development of petty traders in Owerri especially as petty traders could not access the subsequent trenches of loans which the scheme provided for petty traders. The study proposed three research questions that investigated the level of improvement or otherwise of the businesses of the petty traders that partook in trader-moni scheme. The study anchored its theoretical framework on the rational theory of Adam Smith because it best explains the implementation of the trader-moni in Nigeria. The data used for this study was collected through in-depth interview and other secondary sources of data collection techniques. The interviewees of this study were those petty traders who benefitted from the scheme in Owerri. Findings revealed that those who benefitted from the trader-moni scheme could only access the first trench of N10,000 (Ten Thousand Naira) that was disbursed and with little or no paybacks made. The scheme was able to impact minimally on the growth of the businesses of the participants due to the political undertone of its implementation. Therefore, the study recommends that development programmes like trader-moni should not be implement few months to the electioneering period. It was also recommended that the government be transparent in their dealings with citizens.