Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Credit Assessment in Microfinance Banks in Nigeria

The rapid expansion of Nigeria's digital lending industry has led to the development of effective credit risk assessment systems. The low credit histories and strong information asymmetry were two of the numerous issues that the traditional credit scoring algorithms had to deal with. The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on credit evaluation in Nigerian microfinance institutions is investigated in this study. 125 credit officers, compliance managers, and IT specialists from microfinance institutions provided the information. The measurement and structural models are analyzed using Partial Lease-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). In order to fully achieve the potential of AI-enabled credit management, the study suggests investments in employee training, explainable AI models, and regulatory norms. The results show that AI has a major impact on loan payment and credit evaluation in Nigerian microfinance banks.