Research/academic paper

Microfinancing and its Benefits to Women-owned Micro-enterprises in Chad: A Case Study of the City of N’Djamena – Paper

This study aims to examine the impact of finance on the profits derived by women owned micro-enterprises in Chad, through undertaking a case study of the city of N’Djamena. In order to achieve this objective, the study uses both the two-step Generalized Least Squares estimation method, and the Maximum Likelihood method, which are adopted in order to correct the problem of heteroscedasticity associated with the survey data. The data used is derived from a survey on the economic empowerment of women in the city of N’Djamena, which was carried out in 2016 by the Research Institute of Applied Economics and Management of the University of N’Djamena (LAEREAG). The results show that financing is significantly and positively correlated to profits in women-owned micro-enterprises in Chad. This suggests that an improvement in microfinance lending conditions could improve women-run businesses. Financing that is derived from private microfinance institutions and the support in terms of training and management consultancy services (accounting and marketing) has a positive effect on profits. Finally, an endogeneity test allowed us to highlight the absence of a correlation between the residue and the profit variable. In light of these results, it becomes necessary to improve lending conditions and intensify the support in training and management consultancy services in favour of women.