Role of Entrepreneurship in Poverty Reduction among Informal Workers in Nigeria

Entrepreneurship is generally accepted as a key to economic growth and reduction of poverty, especially in the developing nations where informal economic operations prevail. This paper has discussed how entrepreneurship can help in alleviating poverty among informal workers in Ilorin Metropolis Kwara state, Nigeria. The study targeted three major classes of informal workers, including urban market traders, artisan clusters, and small-scale service providers. The descriptive survey design was chosen, and 381 respondents were chosen with the help of stratified random sampling and the structured questionnaires were distributed to them after which 364 valid responses were received (95.5% response rate). The data were analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis to determine the correlation between entrepreneurial activities and poverty reduction signs, such as household income, savings, and welfare improvement. Results show that the most dominant entrepreneurial activity is trading, then service provision and artisans. Entrepreneurship greatly increases income, savings and household welfare of informal workers and there is a significant positive relationship between the engagement in entrepreneurship and poverty reduction (r = 0.62, p < 0.01). Although these results are positive, informal entrepreneurs are operating under significant difficulties, such as lack of access to finance (67%), lack of infrastructure (56.6%), and regulation (39), which render entrepreneurship full capacity to help in poverty alleviation. The research finds out that entrepreneurship is a viable approach to the reduction of poverty in Ilorin, yet structural barriers should be overcome with specific interventions. Some of the recommendations put forward are financial inclusion, entrepreneurship training, market infrastructure, and enabling policies that enhance the informal entrepreneur. The study helps in the realization of the economic role of informal entrepreneurship and provides viable information to the policy-makers who want to uplift the livelihoods and alleviate poverty using sustainable entrepreneurial programs.