The mediating effect of opportunity for entrepreneurial activity on Micro-credit and women entrepreneur’s performence: a conceptual framework

Women enterprises aid grass root economic development of a country and women entrepreneurs contribute to
the economic development of their families. However, it is discovered that women entrepreneurs perform
below their male counterparts. This is caused by factors that normally affect entrepreneurship development,
among which is lack of credit. Numerous evidence from the literature support the fact that women
entrepreneurs’ lack of business capital and inability to access credit for business are occasioned by factors
such as poverty, unemployment, low household and business income, lack of asset collateral, and societal
discriminations mostly in developing countries. This leads to their low business performance, whereas the
rate of their participation in the informal sector of the economy is higher than males, and credit could have
positive effect on enterprise performance. However, the availability of credit could not lead to business
performance without an opportunity for entrepreneurial activity because, Entrepreneurship and Financial
Management Theorists believe that funds are mostly sourced to start or improve business, or to finance a predetermined
project or contract. The objective of this study is to examine the mediating effect of opportunity for
entrepreneurial activity on credit and women entrepreneurs’ performance. The study involves a survey using
structured questionnaire and an in-depth interview to solicit responses from women entrepreneurs, and
secondary data from microfinance institutions. Data analysis involves the use of descriptive statistics.