An investigation into the impact of accessibility to micro-finance on the performance of small-scale enterprises in Windhoek Havana informal settlement
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Date
2023
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
Business development has emerged as a driver of economic development, and in the quest
to drive job creation and food security, among others, goverments have explored measures
aimed to facilitate SME development. One of the key challenges affecting successful pro gression of SMEs is funding and even though governments in conjunction with the private
sector, the issue has peristed and Namibia is not an exception. In view of this, the study
sought to determine whether the existence of microfinance institutions in Namibia has an
impact on SMEs in Windhoek, in terms of performance, using the case of Havana informal
settlement.. The study employed a mixed research approach, which enabled the researcher
to staticatically conclude empirical findings aimed to assess the extent to which micro
funding is accessible to SMEs in an in-depth and objective manner. To fulfil this, an ex planatory research design was used and rationale was to obtain answers pertaining to the
status of micro financing in Namibia. A survey questionnaire was used to collect primary
data from the sampled population in the Havana informal settlement, Windhoek. Second ary data was obtained from annual reports of financial institutitions. The informants of
the study consisted of 50 business owners residing in Havana and were selected using a
non-probability method, namely random sampling method. The findings suggest that there
is evidence to justify lack of micro financing opportunities and surprisingly, most of the
participants have never benefitted from such schemes. Overall, accessibility to micro fi nancing was deemed less useful and there is bad perception about this as existing funding
schemes were not considered to be effective. The study recommended revision of policies
governing micro financing, stimulating joint projects, establishment of public private part nerships, investing in research and development and benchmarking Namibias’ efforts with
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international successful micro funding opportunities available for SMEs. The outcomes
of the study reveal a need to review SME funding schemes, so that concrete measures
could be adopted to address challenges thereof
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master in business administration management strategy
Keywords
Micro-finance, Havana informal settlement, Windhoek, Small-scale enterprises