An Exploratory Study of the Impact of Government Policies on the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises in Developing Countries: The Case of Nigeria

This paper explores the effects of government policies on the development of Small and Medium Enterprises in developing countries through the examination of the case of Nigeria. Many research studies reported that SMEs in Nigeria have not benefited from the policies formulated by the government. This paper investigates the impediments to manufacturing SMEs growth and the needed pre-requisite environment for SMEs to benefit from government specific policies. The study adopted a qualitative methodology depending on face to face interviews with 20 SME owners and/or managers in five of the six geographical arears of Nigeria, 20 bank managers in the capital city of Lagos and 20 government officials located in the federal capital city of Abuja. The study unveils unique contextually novel insights, including particularly the distinctive processes and different relationships related to lenders decision. The research findings are consistent with those reported by other scholars in the field, and confirm that government policies and support in the areas of technology, infrastructure and finance affects the performance of SMEs to a great extent in Nigeria.