Effect of Entrepreneurship on Poverty Reduction in Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of entrepreneurship on poverty reduction in Niger State, Nigeria. The paper assesses the influence of three basic features of entrepreneurs, which are risk taking, innovation and managerial skills and how these features have impacted on the poverty reduction in the study area. Data for the study were collected through questionnaire administered to owners of Small –scale businesses that cut across six local government areas of Niger state. 479 responses were received from form the respondents and the responses were analyzed using the structural equation model (SEM/AMOS). Results of the analyses show that there exist a statistically significant between entrepreneurship and poverty reduction and R2 of 77%. The results also revealed that all the three components of entrepreneurship (risk taking, innovation and managerial skills) are statistically significant to poverty reduction in the study area. The findings of this paper have practical for policy makers in the study area as well as Nigeria as a whole. The study therefore, make recommendations that would improve entrepreneurship and how it will reduce poverty in the study area.