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The current study is about “The contribution of microcredit programs on economic
empowerment of women entrepreneurs in Tanzania”. The main objective of the
study is to examine the contribution of microcredit programs on economic
empowerment of women entrepreneurs in Morogoro Municipal. In particular, the
study was designed to achieve the following specific objectives: To identify factors
leading to entrepreneurial motivation for women entrepreneurs, to examine the role
of microcredit on economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs and to determine
challenges facing women entrepreneurs in accessing microcredit in Morogoro
Municipal. The descriptive case study design was used, where primary data were
collected from 120 women entrepreneurs from 44 microcredit associations operating
in Morogoro Municipal. Collected data were analyzed through three descriptive
statistics, thematic analysis and paired sample t-test.
Study results showed that there are various factors that lead to entrepreneurial
the motivation for women such as the desire for economic independence, sudden fall of
family income, role model women, unsatisfactory employment conditions, work-family balance, loss of a husband or any breadwinner for the family, training and
education exposure and achievement motivation. It was however found that
microcredit programs play a significant role in the economic empowerment of women
who are also faced with various challenges such as poor leadership and management
of the associations, existence of personal grudges and hatred, unfriendly terms and
conditions of microcredit associations and unfair fines for late repayment of the loan.
Basing on the findings, it was concluded that Microcredit programs play a significant
role in economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs and that the Government
has no yet considered microcredit programs as the important sources for micro
businesses funding among small entrepreneurs. In this study, it was opined that the
the government should incorporate into its financial and SME policies, microcredit
programs as the primary sources of micro business funding mechanisms for women
especially those from rural areas |
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