Factors Affecting Loans Repayment among Women Entrepreneurs in Microfinance Institutions in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania: A case of Association for Social Advancement International (ASA)

The study intended to assess economic factors affecting loans payment among women entrepreneurs, to examine institutional factors affecting loans payment among women entrepreneurs and to identify social factors affecting loans repayment among women. Study was conducted in Dar es Salaam region, Kinondoni Municipality. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to get a total of 60 respondents and 8 key informants from The ASA international. Data was collected through questionnaires, FGD, interview and documentary review and analysed by using the SPSS version 20 and deductive approach. The findings revealed that women entrepreneurs' repayment rates in the study area were low. The economic factors that influenced women's low repayment rates include Economic instability, financial education/financial literacy and repayment frequencies, institutional factors included high interest rates, locations of the MFIs, transaction cost and weak institutional credit appraisals and Social factors included borrower characteristics, moral hazards, education, health and family sizes. The study observed that most women were taking loans but they were not using such loans for what they requested for. Financial management education was also not enough disseminated to the respondent, This led to them to use local knowledge and experiences to run their businesses. It has been recommended therefore that the loans provided should relate to the financial capabilities of borrows to avoid large loans and end up with defaults or late payments.

 Key words- Loan, Loan Repayment, Women Entrepreneurs, Microfinance Institutions