Date of submission: September 18, 2020; date of acceptance: January 3, 2021. * Contact information: ajibolamagaji@gmail.com, Department of Accounting and Finance, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria, phone: +2347032873780; ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2293-3453. ** Contact information: oshoprint@gmail.com, Department of Accounting and Fi- nance, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria, phone: +2347036215657; ORCID ID: htt- ps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1365-2860. *** Contact information: orimustrock@yahoo.com, Department of Accountancy, The Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Nigeria, phone: +2348032440434; ORCID ID: https://orcid. org/0000-0001-5459-3364. Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting e-ISSN 2300-3065 p-ISSN 2300-12402020, volume 9, issue 4 Ajibola, I.M., Saheed, D.O., & Adedoyin, L. (2020). Impact of Microfinance Institutions on Financial Literacy in North Central Geo-Political Zone Nigeria. Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting, 9(4), 9–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/CJFA.2020.019 IbrahIm majeed ajIbola* Kwara State University daud omotosho saheed** Kwara State University lukman adedoyIn*** Federal Polytechnic Offa Impact of mIcrofInance InstItutIons on fInancIal lIteracy In north central geo-polItIcal zone nIgerIa Keywords: financial literacy, saving mobilization, e-banking, financial decisions. J E L Classification: G21, G28, D14, D19, C23. Abstract: Inclusive financial literacy through Microfinance Institutions activities is becoming a policy issue in both developed and developing nations of the world as it has been perceived as a veritable tool for economic development. This work examines the Ibrahim Majeed Ajibola, Daud Omotosho Saheed, Lukman Adedoyin10 impact of Microfinance Institutions on financial Literacy in North Central Geo-Political Zone Nigeria. The specific objectives are to establish the relationship between saving mobilization as microfinance institutions operations and financial literacy, analyze the effect of microfinance institutions accessibility on E-banking platform usage and iden- tify the effects of microfinance institutions activities on the financial decisions of the rural dwellers. Descriptive design method was adopted; 50 respondents was selected from each of the six Microfinance Institutions that was selected from each of the six states of the north central geo-political zone that serve as the fair representation of the population under study a total of 1800 questionnaires were administered out of which 1494 was returned. Data for the study were collected primarily through questionnaire from the 1494 respondents that serve as the fair representations for the population un- der study. The formulated hypotheses were tested with the aid of regression and cor- relation while preliminary test was done with the aid of Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Sha- piro Wilk with a view to ascertain the normality of the data. Similarly, Reliability test was conducted with the aid of Cronbach’s Alpha. The overall results of the regression analysis reveals that a positive relationship exist between MFIs activities and financial literacy given cognizance to the reported coefficients on the adopted variables. There- fore, it was recommended that Government should promote financial sector deepening by licensing more microfinance institutions, to promote accessibility to finance among its populous to improve the level of financial literacy in Nigeria. This will increase the- ir ability to save and borrow thereby contribute positively to economic development.  Introduction The current trend in economy world has not only made financial literacy an im- portant knowledge which a sizeable portion of a state must acquire but rather becomes an imperative essential tool for survival in the face of the global pan- demic which has voraciously induce all forms of economics activities adverse- ly. The low level of financial literacy especially among the rural dwellers has no doubt resulted to some forms of poor financial investment and decision due to their inability to clearly identified and select an investment option that suit their risk preference this will no doubt have an impending effect on both indi- vidual finances and the entire financial system. Thus, the need to accelerate personal financial literacy and orientation should become policy issue in de- veloped and developing countries. Low level of financial literacy in Africa is es- pecially in Nigeria is becoming alarming among specific demographic groups, particularly those with low education background (Gine, 2013). The increasing incidence of poor financial investment in some Africa countries are in connec- tion with the fact that an insignificant persons seek the help of financial advi- sors to make financial investment related decisions. However, low financial lit- eracy among the rural dwellers usually affect their ability to save and to secure imPAct of microfinAnce institutions on finAnciAl literAcy… 11 a comfortable investment plans considering the complexity of financial con- cepts (Lusardi, 2012). Henri, Fred and Kemirembe (2015) maintain that financial literacy and ori- entation require the ability and capacity to do complex calculations with re- spect to financial investment plans and decisions. Lusardi (2008) opined that most of the empirical Studies carried out by the United States and other select- ed developing nations indicate that low level of education attainment is a major producing agent of financial illiteracy. Financial knowledge is the major ingre- dient for financial and investment decisions. Thus, financial literacy has be- come the lifetime skills that is require to succeed in today’s complex economic environment in the face of the global pandemics (Kakande, 2013). Most of the previous studies on the subject matter such as Masok (2011), Ka- kande (2013), Chibba (2009), Sanusi (2011), Abifarin and Bello (2018), Emeka and Udom (2019) and Adeola and Ikpesu (2019) among others that examined fi- nancial literacy related topics in Nigeria focused mainly on the role of financial institutions in promoting business enterprises and financial inclusion. This, to the best knowledge of the researchers, no study has been conducted with re- spect to how the operation of the microfinance institutions have promoted fi- nancial literacy among the people of North Central Geo-Political Zone in Nigeria given credence to the fact that the North Central Geo-Political Zone in Nigeria has the highest population of illiterates in Nigeria, particularly the rural dwell- ers considering the fact that microfinance institutions operate outside the for- mal sector. However, microfinance institutions constitute a potent develop- ment strategy tool that enables poor entrepreneurs to initiate their businesses as well as saving mobilizations which expand the circle of their economic activ- ities. Therefore, the impact of microfinance institutions on financial literacy in Nigeria has not being fully researched on, it is imperative that the gap be filled by taking a look at how the microfinance institutions operations affect and pro- mote financial literacy especially among the rural dwellers. To guide the thrust of this research work, the following hypotheses were tested: H1: There is no significant relationship between saving mobilization of mi- crofinance institutions operations and financial literacy. H2: There is no significant effect of microfinance institutions accessibility on E-banking platform usage. H3: There is no significant effect of microfinance institutions activities on the financial decisions of the rural dwellers. Ibrahim Majeed Ajibola, Daud Omotosho Saheed, Lukman Adedoyin12 Literature Review Conceptual Review Financial literacy as a persons’ minimal knowledge about financial terms such as money, inf lation, interest rate, credit and others financial related concept (Greenspan, 2002). The ability, capacity, dexterity and skills of an individual to use all this information in making personal financial decisions. Socol (2014) opined that the concept of financial literacy restricted to knowledge and skill elements. More particularly, the concept of financial literacy now requires indi- vidual financial behavior, preference as well as self-discipline to ensure a bet- ter financial investment decision. Financial orientation and literacy is a broad concept that requires the translation of idea and knowledge for the purpose of wealth creation in terms of efficient saving and investment. Financial numer- acy, literacy and orientation perhaps depend on the financial system and the framework in which individuals and communities operate. Bayer and Douglas (2009) argue that low financial knowledge in this part of the world has promoted wrong financial plans and decisions which has in- duced the prosperity index in the nonproductive age of demography. The car- dinal focus of financial numeracy and literacy is to give financial education and orientations to all and sundry specifically the rural dwellers in order to man- age their finances diligently and intelligently, as a way of addressing informa- tion asymmetry associated with investment decisions in relation to investment products that offer high profits in the short term without considering the as- sociated risks. Theoretical Background Learning Theory Learning theory was promulgated by Skinner (1953) who postulated that be- haviour is associated with consequence based on the assumption that the be- havior of an individual has direct link with their ability and capacity. Thus, the theory is mainly concern with the possibility of making certain decisions with respect to self-discipline and preference in connection with an impending con- sequence regarding how individual knowledge and exposure affect their de- imPAct of microfinAnce institutions on finAnciAl literAcy… 13 cision making. Thus, it is important to note that financial literacy induce the skills and knowledge of individuals in making key financial and investment re- lated decisions that affect their lives and considering the strategic role microfi- nance institutions play in relation to the financial literacy of low income earn- ers and the rural dwellers that are mostly financially excluded. Empirical Review Mohamed and Mukhongo (2016) examine the effect of microfinance services on the financial performance of small and medium enterprises, in Mogadishu, Somalia. The data used for the study was collected through a structured ques- tionnaire that was administered to the selected respondents that were purpo- sively selected to serve as fair representation for the population under study. Regression model was adopted with the view to test for the significance of the study hypotheses. The results show that moderate positive relationship exists between financial sustainability, financial literacy, risk diversification and fi- nancial performance of microfinance institutions in Mogadishu, Somalia. In the light of the forgoing it was recommended that the microfinance institutions should expand their services to other parts of the country as a way of accelerat- ing SMEs growth among the people of Mogadishu in Somalia. Chibba (2009) empirically investigate the inf luence of financial literacy on financial decisions of micro finance institution clients in Embu County. Ques- tionnaire was adopted as a tool for data collection. The collected date was an- alyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) computer program. Spearman’s correlation was used to establish the nature of relationship that exist between the dependent variable and adopted proxies for the independent variables. The results show that financial illiteracy of certain portion of the de- mographic especially the rural dwellers about MFI operations had made some of them poorer because of wrong investment decisions. It was recommended that MFI should step up their training for their customers on financial literacy through a voucher scheme to enable the clients advance their financial manage- ment skills and dexterity. Ajinaja and Odeyale (2018) examine Microfinance and the challenge of fi- nancial inclusion for SMEs development in Nigeria. The needed data was col- lected primarily through the use of questionnaire. The result of the finding reveal among many others that there is a negative significant relationship be- tween loan to small enterprises and loan to rural areas in Nigeria in the period Ibrahim Majeed Ajibola, Daud Omotosho Saheed, Lukman Adedoyin14 under study. It was therefore recommended that more micro finance institu- tions should operate at rural communities as a way of addressing the problem of financial exclusion the rural dwellers are confronted with. Emeka and Udom (2019) investigate the impact of Microfinance in promot- ing financial inclusion in Nigeria from 1990 and 2014. A unit root test was con- ducted to establish the stationary of the adopted series to avoid spurious re- gression results. The findings indicate that all the explanatory variables were jointly significant in explaining the dependent variable. It was recommended that microfinance banks should operate majorly in local communities as a way of promoting financial inclusion among the rural dwellers. From the literature review surveyed, it was found that the researchers who studied financial literacy were conducted outside the shore of Nigeria hence, leaving a geographical gap, even considering the fact that most of the active players in the informal sectors were said to be rural dwellers who knew little or nothing about financial decision. This study therefore presents an empirical analysis of how the activities of microfinance banks inf luence financial literacy in North Central Geo-Political Zone in Nigeria. The Research Methodology and the Course of the Research Process Methodology This research makes use of survey research because a population with large number was brought under investigation. The population for this study com- prises of all the microfinance institutions in North Central Geo-Political Zone in Nigeria. It is important to know that there are different types of microfinance institutions performing designated functions; however, this study purposely focus on the microfinance banks in North Central Geo-Political Zone in Nige- ria. Due largely to the proximity of the North Central Geo-political Zone to the researchers which enable the researchers to easily obtain all the needed data for the purpose of this study from each of the topmost six microfinance banks that were purposively selected from each of the six states of North Central Geo- Political Zone in Nigeria. It is important to know that each of the six selected states in North Central Geo-Political Zone in Nigeria has three senatorial dis- tricts just like every other state in Nigeria. A total of thirty-six microfinance in- stitutions operators were purposively selected to serve as the fair representa- imPAct of microfinAnce institutions on finAnciAl literAcy… 15 tion of the whole microfinance institutions in North Central Geo-Political Zone in Nigeria. Hence, the researcher selects a predetermined number of fifty (50) customers per MFI, the topmost two microfinance institutions were selected from each of the three senatorial districts of the six North Central Geo-Polit- ical Zone States in Nigeria to make a total of three hundred (300) customers per each of the six states of North Central Geo-Political Zone in Nigeria which include; Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Nasarawa and Plateau. Hence, a total of one thousand and eight hundred (1800) respondents were targeted to serves as fair representation of the population under study. Model Specification This model was adapted from the study of Emeka and Udom (2019). The study used, saving mobilization (SM), E-banking product (EBP) and financial decision (FD) as a proxy for the independent variable FIL= f(MFIO) (1) Where: FIL = Financial literacy MFIO = Microfinance institution operations Where: FIL = SM, EBP and FD: It then follows that FIL= ᶂ (SM; EBP;FD) (2) Substituting equation (2) into (1), a multivariate relationship is arrived at as follows; MFI=β0+β1SM+β2EBP+β3FD+εi (3) Where: β0 = Intercept of the model. β1 = Coefficient of each independent variable in the model. εi= Error term Ibrahim Majeed Ajibola, Daud Omotosho Saheed, Lukman Adedoyin16 The a-priori expectation of the above model posits a positive relationship between FIL proxy and the adopted surrogates for MFIO. Estimation and Analyses Validity and Reliability Test for the Research Instrument The Content validity of this work was done through expert opinion for determin- ing the appropriateness of the research instrument. In other to ensure the relia- bility of this work research instrument Cronbach’s Alpha technique was adopted. Data Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation Response Rate Table 1. Analysis of Response Rate Respondents Total Distributed Total Returned Unreturned Questionnaire Correctly filled Selected MFIs Customers 1800 1594 100 1494 TOTAL 1800 1594 100 1494 S o u r c e : field survey. A total of one thousand and eight hundred (1800) questionnaires were admin- istered to the selected respondents which are drawn from the 36 microfinance institutions across the three senatorial district of North Central Geo-political zone in Nigeria. Only one thousand, four hundred and ninety four (1494) repre- senting 83% of the administered questionnaires were returned and completed appropriately, two hundred and six (206) questionnaires, representing 11.4% of the questionnaires administered were returned but not duly completed, hence, invalid, while one hundred (100) questionnaires, representing 5.5% of the total questionnaires administered were not returned. These analyses were based on the responses from the returned questionnaires administered to the purposively selected respondents that serve as fair representation of the popu- lation under study. imPAct of microfinAnce institutions on finAnciAl literAcy… 17 Preliminary Analysis Test of Normality Table 2. Tests of Normality Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic Df Sig. Statistic df Sig. Saving mobilization .368 1494 .214 .613 1494 .325 E-banking platform usage by the rural dwellers .165 1494 .147 .721 1494 .261 Financial decisions of the rural dwellers .161 1494 .107 .790 1494 .059 a. Lilliefors Significance Correction S o u r c e : author’s survey, 2020. The table above indicated that the data relating to each of the research varia- bles were normally distributed as Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro Wilk test were not significant at 0.05 (p = 0.214, 0.147, 0.107 and 0.325, 0.261 and 0.059 respectively). Base on this result parametric statistical analysis was consid- ered appropriate for this study. Table 3. Reliability Test Using Cronbach’s Alpha Variable Cronbach’s Alpha N Saving mobilization 0.78 4 E-banking platform usage by the rural dwellers 0.76 4 Financial decisions of the rural dwellers 0.74 4 Overall 0.72 12 S o u r c e : author’s survey, 2020. The table above shows that Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for each of the above variables is relatively high at 0.78%, 0.76% and 0.74% regressors respectively. The overall Cronabch’s Alpha coefficient is 0.72. This value is above the stand- Ibrahim Majeed Ajibola, Daud Omotosho Saheed, Lukman Adedoyin18 ard margin of 0.70. Hence, the scale is considered reliable base on the above cronbach’s Alpha result. Correlation Coefficient Matrix among Variables Table 4. Correlation Table SM EBP FD SM Pearson Correlation 1 .556** .517** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 N 1494 1494 1494 EBP Pearson Correlation .526** 1 .600** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 N 1494 1494 1494 FD Pearson Correlation .503** .600** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 N 1494 1494 1494 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). S o u r c e : author’s survey, 2020. The table above addressed the multi-collinearity problem among the explana- tory variables. In the light of the above it was revealed that the independent variables were not significantly correlated with each other given considering their individual coefficients which was below 0.70% significance margin level. Hence, the result suggests that there is no multi-collinearity problem among the variables. imPAct of microfinAnce institutions on finAnciAl literAcy… 19 Empirical Analysis Pearson Correlation Table 5. Correlations SM FL SM Pearson Correlation 1 .804** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 1494 1494 FL Pearson Correlation .804** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 1494 1494 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2020. The table above addressed the relationship between (FL) and (SM). Pearson correlation was used because of parametric nature the data which was detailed in the normality test that previous conducted. The correlation coefficient of the result is above 0.70 i.e Financial Literacy having correlation coefficient of 0.804 which implies a positive strong relationship between Financial Literacy and saving mobilization. Ibrahim Majeed Ajibola, Daud Omotosho Saheed, Lukman Adedoyin20 Regression coefficient Table 6. Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients T Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) .301 .074 4.304 .044 Saving mobilization .175 .051 .185 2.420 .000 E-banking platform usage by the rural dwellers .421 .064 .752 6.164 .000 Financial decision of the rural dwellers .051 .075 .080 .760 .000 a. Dependent Variable: Financial Literacy S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2020. The above table detailed the regression result of the model. According the table 0.301 was reported for constant which implies that irrespective of other inde- pendent variables, financial literacy is constantly affected by 0.301. Saving mo- bilization of the selected Micro finance institutions has a standardised coeffi- cient of 0.185. This means that for every 1% increase in saving mobilization of micro finance institutions operations, financial literacy increase by 0.185. Fur- thermore, E-banking platform usage by the rural dwellers has a standardised coefficient of 0.752 which implies that for every 1% increase in E-banking plat- form usage by the rural dwellers, financial literacy increase by 0.752. Finally, financial decision of the rural dwellers has a standardized coefficient of 0.80. By implication, for every 1% increase in financial decision of the rural dwell- ers, will lead to financial literacy increase by 0.80. However, the standard error of all the variables are very low given cognizance to their reported coefficient. By implication the lower the standard error, the more precise the estimates. In view of this one can draw a conclusion that all the adopted proxies for the inde- pendent variables were precise in estimating the parameters. imPAct of microfinAnce institutions on finAnciAl literAcy… 21 Model Summary Table 7. Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .652a .665 .698 .248 a . P r e d i c t o r s : (Constant), MFIO S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2020. The table detailed the model summary describing it goodness of fit. Multiple correlation coefficients (R) of 0.652 posits a strong relationship between the financial literacy and the set of predictors as a whole. The coefficient of (R2) stood @ 0.665 which implies that 66.5% of variation in the financial literacy being the dependent variable can be explained by the adopted surrogate for the independent variables while the 33.5% gap has been dumped into the error term which represent the stochastic element of the model. Table 8. ANOVAb Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 75.981 3 36.097 397.449 .000a Residual 32.312 1494 .086 Total 108.293 1494 a. Predictors: (Constant), Saving mobilization, E-banking platform usage by the rural dweller, Finan- cial decision of the rural dweller b. Dependent Variable: Financial Literacy. S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2020. The above result shows a general p-value of 0.000 is < 0.05 significance mar- gin. This posits that the model is statistically significant. The F-Statistics of 397.449s was equally significant at 5% which posits that the overall regression model is fit. Ibrahim Majeed Ajibola, Daud Omotosho Saheed, Lukman Adedoyin22  Conclusion and Recommendations Based on the empirical analysis of the research, it was revealed that a positive relationship exists between saving mobilization and financial literacy. A per- centage increase in saving mobilization activities will no doubt promote the level of financial literacy within the study area considering the fact that saving mobilization activities of MFIs will no doubt promote a better financial plan- ning and debt management of the MFIs customers especially the rural dwellers that have no access to formal financial service. E-banking product (EBP) and financial decision (FD) as a proxy for the independent variable equally shows to have strong positive relationship with financial literacy. Access and usage of E-banking products by the rural dwellers will no doubt improve their level of financial numeracy and literacy thereby promoting a better financial decision. Revelations from the x-ray of this study shows that the activities of MFIs usu- ally inf luence an improved financial planning, saving habit and debt manage- ment of the MFIs customers especially the rural dwellers that have no access to formal financial service considering the reported coefficient of microfinance institutions operation (MFIO), E-banking product (EBP) and financial deci- sion (FD) as a proxies for the independent variable. A good financial literacy in the population will no doubt induce the level of financial inclusion, which is off course a widely accepted poverty reduction strategy aimed at improving ac- cess to financial products for those in viscous circle of poverty partly because of their financial literacy. In the light of the forgoing the following recommen- dations were made: The Government should promote financial sector deepen- ing by licensing more microfinance institutions, to promote accessibility to fi- nance among its populous to improve the level of financial literacy in north central geo-political zone in Nigeria. This will increase their ability to save and borrow thereby contribute positively to economic development by reducing the level of poverty among the rural dwellers.  References Abifarin, O., & Bello, A. (2018). Cooperative Bank as an Effective Financial Inclusion Strategy in Nigeria. Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization, 44. Adeola, O., & Ikpesu, F. (2019). An empirical investigation of the impact of bank lend- ing on agricultural output in Nigeria: A vector autoregressive (VAR) approach. 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Ibrahim Majeed Ajibola, Daud Omotosho Saheed, Lukman Adedoyin24 Index QUESTIONNAIRE INSTRUCTION: Please tick (√) against your responses in the space provided. SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 1. Age (tick appropriately) 18-29 ( ) 30 - 49 ( ) 50 and Above ( ) 2. Gender: Male ( ) Female ( ) 3. Marital status: Single ( ) Married ( ) 4. Occupation: Civil servants ( ) Corporate employee ( ) Entrepreneur ( ) Student ( ) NB; from the next section, kindly tick appropriately, SA = 5 = STRONGLY AGREED A = 4 = AGREED I = 3 = INDIFFERENCE D = 2 = DISAGREE SD = 1 = STRONGLY DISAGREED SECTION B Operational Information I. Establish the relationship between saving mobilization and financial literacy S/N STATEMENT SA A I D SD 1. SM improves customers financial literacy 2. SM improves customers understanding of financial services 3. SM influence customers disposition to ban- king culture. 4. SM induce customers financial knowledge imPAct of microfinAnce institutions on finAnciAl literAcy… 25 II. Analyze the effect of microfinance institutions operations on E-banking plat- form usage by the rural dwellers S/N STATEMENT SA A I D SD 5. MFIO brings E-banking products close to the rural dwellers 6. MFIO influence rural dwellers disposition to e-banking usage. 7. MFIO improves rural dwellers knowledge on e-banking products. 8. e-banking products has improved the level of financial inclusion among the rural dwellers. III. Identify the effects of microfinance institutions operations on the financial de- cisions of the rural dwellers S/N STATEMENT SA A I D SD 9. MFIO induce rural dwellers investment decision 10. MFIO improves the rural dwellers saving culture 11. MFIO improves the rural dwellers financial de- cision. 12. MFIO has reduce the fear of loss of fund on finan- cial instrument among the rural dwellers.