Factors influencing access to youth enterprise development fund by youths groups in Nyeri Central district, Nyeri County, Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya acknowledges that one of the constraints facing Small Microenterprises' development among the youth is the difficulty in accessing credit. Youth fund is a special fund for the youth. This fund was expected to improve credit access significantly among the youth. However, some funds lie idle despite the huge unemployment problem. From the literature review, several factors were seen to influence credit access among the youth. They included lack of collateral, business experience and skills, complex documentation procedures; long waiting periods, lack of knowledge, understanding and awareness, high interest rates and networking .

The main findings of the study were that the youth groups were limited in terms of access to resources and therefore they started businesses principally out of economic necessity. Lending conditions and networking were cited as being one of the major barriers to credit access from the youth fund. The main conclusion from the study was that though credit was available from YEDF the set conditions and terms of payment were said to pose challenges to youth groups. The main recommendation from the study was that there is need for YEDF to market their services more widely and make them favorable to the youth groups.

The findings will also contribute to knowledge in the role of credit access in enhancing SME development and entrepreneurship among the youth. The study used descriptive/survey research design which was carried out among 80 youth groups who were selected using stratified random sampling method. The study used questionnaires as the data collection instruments. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive analysis method and presented by use of tables. This study therefore sought to find out the factors affecting access of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund by the youth groups in Nyeri Central District.