ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of access to finance on Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) when credible financial intermediaries (Banks or Non-bank Financial institutions) are used to channel quasi-commercial credit to SMEs. A structured interview questionnaire with predetermined set of questions was employed to collect data from twenty (27) respondents. The respondents were business owners in the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sectors who have taken loans under the “Possible to Profitable” (P2P) scheme. Data collected on the P2P program was obtained to further understand the extent to which the program had been able to meet its objectives of developing the WASH sector through access to financing. Data from the questionnaire was coded and analyzed with statistical tools such as frequency tables, charts (pie and bar) and the paired t-test.

Male respondents made up 59% of the population surveyed whilst 41% of respondents were female. Majority of the respondents were aged between 36 – 50 years which made up 41% of the sample population. Key findings were that Financial Institutions was the source most relied on by respondents to grow awareness of financing options available to their businesses. Government agencies and business associations followed as a second and third most credible sources for growing the awareness to financing options for businesses. There was observable growth in sales, assets (fixed and current) and net profit for businesses of respondents, who highlighted that the level of service to customers had improved after loans were taken.

The outcome of this work should help influence policy that promotes collaboration with financial intermediaries to grow financing of the WASH sector to ensure sustainability.