An Assessment of the Factors Affecting Women Enterpreneurship Development and Empowerment in Kenya [MBA Thesis] PDF Download

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Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
The motive behind this study was to investigate the factors affecting women entrepreneurship development and empowerment in Kenya. The objectives of this study was to determine the influence of access to finance with regards to women development and empowerment in Kenya, to determine the influence of access to markets for women development and empowerment in Kenya as well as determining the influence of access to training and women development and empowerment in Kenya. Descriptive research design was used to assess the factors affecting women entrepreneurship development and empowerment. The target population for this study is 60 women entrepreneurs working in 6 sectors of the economy. The sectors are; textile, food and beverage, agriculture, beauty, manufacturing and construction. The study used stratified sampling technique in sampling respondents. Secondary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires with close-ended questions. Primary data was collected from women entrepreneurs owning and operating small and medium enterprises in Nairobi County Kenya. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the joint relationship between independent and dependent variables. The data was analysed using simple descriptive statistics including ranges, percentages, frequencies and mode. The data collected and analysed was presented in the form of tables and graphs. The research question on access to finance established that women entrepreneurs did not access funds from the Government development fund or the financial institutions that is both commercial and micro instead choosing to borrow from friends and self help groups. On access to markets the study established that almost all Kenyan women entrepreneurs lack the knowledge to be able to penetrate international markets with half the respondents indicating that women entrepreneurs did not have knowledge of both local and international markets. With regards to training the study identified that women entrepreneurs were not trained on customer and communication skills due to poor coordination from relevant government authorities tasked with the job of training them. From the study it was concluded that the women entrepreneurship sector is one of the key drivers of the economy among the developing countries of the world. Therefore for the women entrepreneurs to prosper, it is the responsibility of the Government to develop appropriate initiatives to promote SME sector. Training of SMEs, financial accessibility and market accessibility will revolutionalise the SME sector and therefore promote social economic developments in Kenya. From the findings of the study it is recommended that the Government should review policies of Commercial Banks through the Central Bank of Kenya to enable SMEs to access loans easily. The Government should market SME?s produce abroad through the Export Council. The government in partnership with other stakeholders such as the Kenya Private Sector Alliance and International Labour Organization ought to invest in training SME?s on market analysis and customer care management.