Microfinance Services and Performance of Women-Owned Micro and Small Businesses in Bujumbura- Burundi.
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Date
2024-10
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Since the middle of the 1980s, microfinance for women has gained popularity among development organizations as a method of reducing poverty. Micro and small businesses owned by women have restricted access to microfinance services, limiting their revenues and adversely affecting their business performance. This study aimed to investigate the effect of microfinance services on the performance of women-owned micro and small businesses in Bujumbura, Burundi. The specific objectives of the study are to examine how microcredit, savings mobilizations, and financial training services affect the performance of women-owned small and microbusinesses in Bujumbura, moreover the study used government regulations as a moderating variable. The theories of this study were resource-based view theory, dynamic capability theory, contingency theory, and innovation theory. The researcher utilized an explanatory research design. The target population was dispersed over 8 sectors from three districts in Bujumbura, and the sample size was 191 women-owned micro and small businesses selected from 366 micro and small enterprises using a proportionate stratified and random sampling approach. 191 women-owned micro and small businesses in Bujumbura, Burundi, received a semi-structured questionnaire for the research using the drop and pick approach. The study employed descriptive statistics like percentages, means, and standard deviations and a multiple linear regression model in inferential statistics to analyze the data. The regression model was utilized since it demonstrates how the independent variable affects the dependent variable. The results indicated that micro and small businesses' performance was significantly and positively influenced by having access to microcredit. Additional findings demonstrated that the performance of micro and small businesses was positively and significantly influenced by savings mobilization. Furthermore, the findings indicated that financial education significantly affected performance of micro and small businesses. Plus, the relationship between microfinance services and the performance of micro and small firms was not significantly moderated by government regulations. The study concluded that microfinance services contribute significantly to the performance of women-owned micro and small enterprises. The study recommends that microfinance organizations in Bujumbura, Burundi, need to inform the public of the importance and uptake of their services. Microfinance institutions ought to make savings accounts easy to operate for women entrepreneurs. It was further recommended that for the women-owned micro and small businesses in Bujumbura, Burundi, microfinance institutions should do a better job of raising awareness of the services they offer so that business owners know about them and how they can help them succeed if they want to perform well financially.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Business, Economics and Tourism Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science in Entrepreneurship of Kenyatta University, October, 2024
Supervisors;
1. Stephen M. A Muathe
2. Eliud Obere