Factors That Affect the Accessibility of Youth Enterprise Funds among Youth Entrepreneurs in Nairobi

Abstract

The general objective of the study was to identify the factors that affect the accessibility of the youth Enterprise Funds for entrepreneurs. The specific objectives of the study were: To establish the impact of entrepreneurial education of the uptake of Youth Enterprise Funds, to establish the impact of the current government lending conditions on the uptake of Youth Enterprise Funds and to establish the impact of the current regulatory framework on the access to Youth Enterprise Funds. A descriptive research design was adopted for the study to examine the factors that affect the accessibility of Youth Enterprise Funds. The population of the study was defined as the youth entrepreneurs within the age of 18 to 35 years with existing registered businesses within Metta and Nailab. A stratified random sampling technique was adopted to choose the sample for the study. One hundred and twenty students were chosen to take part in the study. The tool used to collect data for the study was structured questionnaires issued to the defined sample. The data collected was then analysed through inferential and descriptive statistics. Finally, the results were displayed in figures and tables. The descriptive findings of the first objective; that assesses the impact of entrepreneurial education on access to YEF, showed a higher ranking for agree and strongly agree. The inferential statistics showed a positive coefficient between the impact on entrepreneurial education and access of YEF. The findings were also significant at < .05 level YEF (β = .625, t = 4.316, p<.05. This indicates that a unit increment in entrepreneurial education will increase the access to YEF by .625. The descriptive findings of the second objective; that assesses the impact of the government lending conditions on access to YEF, showed a higher ranking on agree and strongly agree. The inferential statistics also showed a positive coefficient between the impact of the lending conditions and the access to YEF. The findings were significant at .05 level YEF (β = .491, t = 5.954, p<.05This indicates that one unit increment in the government lending conditions would increase the access to YEF by .491.The final objective on the regulatory framework and its impact on the access to YEF, ranked mostly on agree and strongly agree based on the descriptive statistics from the study. The inferential statistics showed a positive correlation and it was significant at < .05 level YEF (β = .549, t = 4.572, p<.05. This implies that a single unit increment on suitable regulatory framework environment would result in an increase of the access to YEF by .549. The study findings conclude that entrepreneurial education is of importance and has significant influence on the uptake of the Youth Enterprise Funds. The study also concludes that the government lending conditions is an important factor and has significant influence on the access to Youth Enterprise Funds. Finally, the study concludes that the regulatory framework is a relatively important factor and has substantial influence on the access to Youth Enterprise Funds. Based on the findings of this study, a more suitable environment should be created to enhance more borrowing in order to meet the government’s funding targets. This study recommends; in relation to entrepreneurial education; additional training centres, a free online learning platform, seminars and conferences to be sponsored by the government to empower the youth on matters of financial management, IT and basic entrepreneurial skills. The study also recommends in relation to the lending conditions; Flexible loan repayment periods that include a further stretched repayment plan. Lowered interest rates based on the credit worthiness or credit scores of applicants. Lowered tax rates for individuals who have successfully acquired the Youth Enterprise Funds loans so as to reduce cash outflows and enable growth and proper repayments. Finally, the study recommends in relation to the regulatory framework; increase of government offices such as Huduma Centres to facilitate easier business registration and processing and an installment payment plan for the costs related with registration.