Effect of Village Savings And Loan Associations on Small and Medium Enterprise (Sme) Growth in Rwanda: Survey of Kayonza District (Published)
The research purpose was to examine the effects of Village Savings and Loan Associations on the growth of Small and medium enterprises in Rwanda because despite the contribution of Rwandan Government supported the establishment of Village Group Savings Cooperatives as a way of providing financial accessibility to rural Rwandans who cannot afford big loans from the banking institutions in order to support their micro business, performance of SME’s in the rural areas is still low (RDB report 2014). The researcher achieved this research by use of three specific objectives namely; To analyze the effect of credit/ loans on growth of SME growth in Kayonza District; To examine the effect of training and advice on investment on SME Growth in Kayonza District; and to analyze the capital formation on SME growth in Kayonza district. The research is beneficial to the researcher, SME’s, government and JKUAT. The researcher reviewed both theoretical and empirical literature on the effect of Village Savings and credit cooperatives on SME’s performance. The researcher used descriptive method of study based on qualitative and quantitative approach in order to get better analysis of the study. The population size is 884 and sample of was taken. Both primary and secondary sources with their relevant tools like questionnaire and documentary analysis in order to come up with required data. In the findings it was established that Kayonza district has got various credit/ loan services, Training and Advice on Investment services and Capital formation (savings) services. Credit/ loan services includes; provision of required amount of loan to the clients, provision of loan to the clients within a short time, provision of loan without collaterals but members guarantee, provision of the loan to the clients at a low interest rate and provision of loans to the clients with flexible repayment schedule depending on one’s earnings. Training and Advice on Investment services which that include; provisions of investment briefings on terms and conditions of the loan before acquiring loan, provision of investment seminars and workshops to members, provision of tour to successful members business before loan is awarded to clients, VSLA also make follow up visit to their clients in order to provide business advice on monthly basis and they have created members working team who are guarantors and advisors. Capital formation (savings) services which ensures that that VSLA in Kayonza District make clients contribute monthly or weekly to the group savings, savings contribution is managed through rules and procedures, contributed fund is kept safe, clients to divide the saved funds at an agreed interval and clients has a right to refund once he withdraws from the saving group. These services positively influence the SME growth in Kayonza District in the sense that VSLA services has increased capital base increased of members business, increased profitability of the business, made business expand its branches, made members business acquire assets, made members business cash flow to improve and above all VSLA savings has made my progress from hand to mouth to planning for the future. This was justified by table 4.15 which showed the relationship between Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) and SME growth in Kayonza District whereby the respondents N is 366 and the significant level is 0.01, the results indicate that independent variable has positive high correlation to dependent variable equal to .673** and the p-value is .000 which is less than 0.01. When p-value is less than significant level, therefore researchers conclude that variables are correlated and null hypothesis is rejected and remains with alternative hypothesis. This means that there is a significant relationship between Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) and SME growth in Kayonza District. We can therefore conclude Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) contribute to positive SME growth in Kayonza District.
Keywords: Financial Accessibility, Growth, Loan, Rwanda, Savings, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), Village
Effect of Supply Chain Integration Strategies on Performance of Pork Processing Industry in Rwanda (Published)
Supply chain integration (SCI) is a useful approach to improve various measures of firm performance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of supply chain integration strategies on performance of pork processing industry in Rwanda. The study employed a quantitative research design in order to address to the research objective. The target population was the 52 employees of German butchery in Kigali. Due to the small size of the population, there was no need of sampling. Therefore all the 52 employees were obtained through census method and were recruited to the study. Questionnaires were used to collect information regarding internal integration, supplier integration, customer integration and performance of the firms. Questionnaires were distributed through drop and pick method to avoid inconveniencing the respondents during working hours. Data collected was edited and analysed using SPSS. The results indicated that there was a positive and significant correlation between internal integration, supplier integration, customer integration and performance of the firm. The study was about the impact of customer integration, supplier integration and internal integration on pork industry. The study recommended that the industry managers should ensure that the extents of integration of the three variables are enhanced. The study further recommended that a study that will assess the challenges affecting supply chain integration in the pork industry should be conducted in the future. Future study that will assess the barriers of implementation of supply chain integration strategies in pork industry was also recommended.
Keywords: Industry, Pork Processing, Rwanda, Strategies., Supply Chain Integration
Effects of Project Resource Planning Practices on Project Performance of Agaseke Project in Kigali, Rwanda (Published)
The effectiveness of Project Resource planning can be measured in terms of the extent to which it influences project performance or project implementation. The Research topic tries to assess the effects of project resource planning practices on project performance of Agaseke project in Kigali city in Rwanda. The general objective of this study was to assess the effects of Project strategic planning on project performance. Specific objectives of the research were to determine the effects of human resources planning practices on Agaseke project service quality, to analyse the effects of financial resource planning practices on the Agaseke project and to analyse the effects of Material and time resource planning practices for timely implementation of Agaseke project. The research design to this study employs a Cross-sectional study design that uses both quantitative approach. The target population of the study is all women who are members of Agaseke Project in the city of Kigali in Kicukiro, Gasabo and Nyarugenge districts estimated to be 3,800 women. Purposive sampling technique was employed for a target group of 400. The sample size of the research is 120 respondents. Questionnaire was used in order to collect primary quantitative data will a focus group discussion in-depth interview guide would be used to collect qualitative data. Quantitative data will be analysed by use of SPSS version 16.0 will narratives of themes and sub themes was used to analyse qualitative data. Information from primary data will be presented using Graphs, bar charts, tables and pie charts. Ethical issues will be sort out from the Kigali City administration to carry out the research with Agaseke project members while Jomo Kenyatta university of Agriculture and Technology authorised me through a signed letter to enable the research to be carried out. An informed consent form will be given to each participant to sign before participation in this research.
Keywords: Agaseke, Project, Project Performance, Resource Planning, Rwanda