Issues with Cross-Border Transactions and Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s): Nigeria and UAE Businesses

This research was carried out to explore Nigeria SMEs’ international transactions involvements particularly the challenges faced. Out of the known SMEs involved in international business transactions between Nigeria and Dubai, 60 selected for research. Respondents included managers, accountants, marketers/sales managers, and where possible, the owners of the businesses. A combination of a yes or no and a Likert-type scale based questions administered to collect the required data. Cumulative percentage method was used to analyze the data. A Z-score test statistics, at the 5% significance level was used as a decision criterion for the acceptance and rejection of the null hypotheses. The research found that Nigerian and Dubai SMEs are involved in cross-border transactions for the sole reason of expanding their customer base(s) in the two countries with high market potentials. The research is limited to only 300 SMEs involved in international business transactions between Nigeria and Dubai/UAE from/in both countries, from which 60 were sampled and studied. The study findings can help the relevant agencies in coming up with better and more favorable policies that could encourage and motivate the SMEs to do more. In return, the SMEs will contribute back significantly to the countries’ economic development in the long run.