Credit Insurance and Access to Finance for SMEs in Nigeria: An Institutional Economics Analysis

This dissertation examines the role of credit insurance in expanding access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria, using an institutional economics analytical framework that centers the role of formal and informal rules, enforcement mechanisms, and organizational intermediaries in shaping credit insurance markets. SME financing gaps remain among the most persistent structural challenges in Nigeria's economic development, and credit insurance represents an underutilized tool for reducing lender credit risk and expanding SME loan portfolios. The study develops an original Credit Insurance Market Development Framework (CIMDF) that models the institutional preconditions for effective credit insurance market function in developing economies. This framework is empirically tested using a multi-level mixed-methods design combining a survey of 300 SMEs, interviews with 40 commercial lenders and credit guarantee institutions, regulatory document analysis of NAICOM and CBN credit insurance guidelines, and in-depth case studies of four existing credit insurance programs in Nigeria. The study employs instrumental variable estimation to identify the causal effect of credit insurance access on SME financing terms and investment levels. Process tracing reconstructs the institutional pathways through which credit insurance either successfully or unsuccessfully expands SME finance in different regional and sectoral contexts. Keywords: Credit Insurance, SME Finance, Institutional Economics, Nigeria, Access to Finance.