Gender And Access To Credit In Micro And Small Enterprises In Mutare, Zimbabwe

The research study sought to investigate the relationship between access to credit and gender in urban areas of Zimbabwe in which the informal sector is larger than the formal sector. In order to achieve this, the study used the Grameen Theory of micro-lending in Bangladesh, the MC2 theory and ROSCAs theories. The study used secondary data obtained from ZIMSTATS, World Bank, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), the Wisrod website and other publications. E-Views was used to analyze the data using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) for estimation. The results obtained revealed that gender and age of the client are insignificant in determining accessibility of credit from MFIs. Work attendance, loan repayment ability and profit per day have a positive relationship with access to credit; and firm age has a negative relationship with access to credit in Zimbabwe. In light of these results, the study recommended the government to increase access of credit so as to increase economic activity where there is a large informal sector.  In addition, it also recommended that the government should implement policies which enable the participation of women and also use credit creation multipliers as a way to increase economic activity leading to economic growth.