Individual characteristics and financial Inclusion of Women Owned Enterprises in Kenya

Abstract

he main aim of the paper was to determine effect of individual characteristics on financial inclusion of women owned enterprises in Kenya. The study employed explanatory survey research using a target population of 8000 women owned SMEs in the North Rift Region Economic Bloc Counties. Cluster sampling was employed to group SMEs in seven Counties, while simple random was used to select a sample size of 723. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviations. Inferential analysis which included Pearson correlation and regression were used to test all hypotheses required for this research. The findings showed the entrepreneurs' marital status and age had a negative and significant effect on financial inclusion, while level of entrepreneur education has a positive and significant effect on financial inclusion. The implication is that the utilization of financial services declines with an increase in the entrepreneurs' age. It is recommended for financial institutions to tap into older entrepreneurs since they have social capital and they require credit to run their business efficiently. It is therefore recommended for women entrepreneurs to seek for financing from financial institutions to increase their borrowing capacity. Besides, they will have a credit history that can be used as a benchmark to get more financing to grow their business.