Challenges of microcredit access and usage for micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises in the upper west region, Ghana.

Abstract

The article examined the challenges confronting women micro-, small-, and medium-scale entrepreneurs (MSMEs) in accessing and utilizing microcredit from microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The article used a cross-sectional design and mixed-methods approach with a sample of 274 MSMEs. It employed questionnaires to rank the challenges, while interviews elicited the entrepreneurs’ experiences regarding challenges they confront. Garrett’s constraints ranking statistics and verbatim presentation from interviewees were adopted to analyse and present the quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. The results indicate that out of ten constraints, delayed disbursement of microloans, with a total rank of 716, mean rank of 2.36, mean Garrett’s percentage position of 21.13, and mean Garrett’s score of 68.40, ranked highest. The least constraint was little or no concern for clients’ businesses by MFIs with a total clients’ rank of 2,222, mean rank of 8.11, mean percentage position of 76.09, and mean score of 32.94. It is concluded that though a myriad of challenges face MFI-supported MSMEs, the MSMEs have preferences as to which challenge impact their businesses most. It is recommended that in tackling challenges that MFI-clients MSMEs face, it is important to use the preferences of the clients as a guide for better results.