PRIVATE ENTERPRISES AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

This work centered on private enterprises and rural development in Anambra state. The objectives include: to ascertain the extent to which private enterprises have contributed to rural development in Anambra state; to find out the challenges facing private enterprises in rural development in Anambra state; to examine the measures to enhance participation of private enterprises in rural development in Anambra state.It is a survey type of research since it investigated what happened in the researcher’s absence. It is also explanatory in nature; having tried to explain the role played by private enterprises in Anambra state. In sampling, stratified random sampling technique was applied where the researcher created strata to represent different interests within the population. Also, purposive sampling was applied in the selection of the respondents, since only those who possessed relevant information could respond well to the researcher’s interview. In the same vein, data was gathered using primary and secondary instruments such as interview, books and journals. Content analysis was used to analyze the data gathered. Thus, the findings are that: private enterprises in Anambra state have not contributed to rural development through the provision of social infrastructure, though their presence in the rural areas of Anambra state has helped in solving the problem of rural-urban migration. They have provided employment as in the case of Innoson Nigeria Limited; poor planning, lack of managerial skill and lack of fund are among the challenges facing private enterprises in rural development in Anambra state; the formation of unions and associations by private enterprises, fair government regulations and cordial relationship between the private enterprises and the rural community are some of the measures that enhance participation of private enterprises in rural development in Anambra state. Finally, we recommend that: private enterprises should as a form of corporate social responsibilities, provide social amenities that will improve the living standards of the local people; there is need for sustained collaboration between government and the operators of private sector organizations by providing adequate incentive and the needed enabling environment to stimulate and foster the growth of the private sector organizations in Nigeria; rural populace should increase their efforts in patronizing the products and services of private enterprises in the rural area in order to encourage them to serve the rural people better and expand their ventures and bring development to the rural people.

In mixed economies like Nigeria, there exist two sectors in the economy. These sectors in spite of the difference in their nomenclature, goals, mission and vision, do work hand in hand to maintain a healthy economy. These sectors include public and private sectors. The public sector includes all those agencies, organizations, institutions, etc. that are under government management and control. On the other hand, the private sector includes establishments, businesses, agencies, etc that are in the hands of individuals or groups.

In other words, Henry (2012:55) opines that the public sector is composed of governments, government agencies and government corporations. Implicit here is the fact that the public sector is directly under the management and control of government. The author goes further to maintain that the private sector includes profit-seeking companies. This underlines the fact that the private sector is profit-oriented; everything they do, they do in a bid to make profits on invested income.

Similarly, in the words of Marchetti (2007:6), the rural private sector includes a whole continuum of economic agents, ranging from subsistence or small holder farmers, rural wage-earners, livestock herders, small-scale traders and micro entrepreneurs; to medium-sized, local private operators such as input suppliers, microfinance institutions, transporters, agroprocessors, commodity brokers and traders; to other, bigger market players that may or may not reside in rural areas, including local or international commodity buyers and sellers, multinational seed or fertilizer companies, commercial banks, agribusiness firms and supermarkets.