CBU - ACESM focuses on delivering excellence in education, training, and research in five thematic areas identified as strategic to improving the sustainability of the mining industry in Zambia and beyond. These areas are: Occupational health and community vulnerability in mining environments; Restoration of mined and derelict environments and waste management; Energy use, mining and process design; Biodiversity and ecosystem impacts; Livelihoods, entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility.
Zambia ranks among the countries with the highest levels of poverty in the world. Micro credits and the development of entrepreneurship play important roles in fighting this poverty. CBU has proven to be an important player in the field of the development of entrepreneurship in Zambia. The collaboration between CBU and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has been important in this context for more ten years.
The aim of the workshop was twofold:
- To train university lecturers of Copperbelt University in the field of qualitative research.
- To find out what determines the successful repayment of micro loans by the borrowers of Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).
This workshop was organized by Dr. Mwansa Chabala (Centre Leader of CBU – ACESM) and Prof. Enno Masurel (Center for Entrepreneurship, Department Management & Organization, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands). The workshop was further led by Prof. John Lungu, Dr. Margaret Siwale and Dr. Progress Choongo (all CBU). 15 staff members of CBU, from different schools, joined this workshop (5 female, 10 male). Next to that, a number of people joined part of the workshop.
Also the practice was represented in this workshop, with the participation of AB Bank Zambia and entrepreneurs who had taken a micro loan. AB Bank Zambia offers products and services to micro enterprises, among others.
Qualitative research was at the basis of the workshop, each participant of the workshops had to make an in-depth interview with a borrower of a micro loan, followed by an in-depth analysis. The reason why the choice was made for qualitative analysis (and not for quantitative analysis) was because the organizers of the workshops expected that more valuable information would come out of that. The participants were not very well experienced with qualitative analysis, so the workshops would also lead to added value for them with this extra experience. Further, not much is known about the determinants of successful repayment of micro loans. This calls for an explorative approach in the form of qualitative research.
In short, the workshop went as follows. First a thorough and long preparation by the organizers of the workshop took place.
At the start of the workshop, after the introduction of the participants and the organizers, the working of qualitative research was explained. After that, the subject of micro finance was discussed. Next the topic list was compiled, consisting of four parts: 1) the entrepreneur (the borrower); 2) the firm; 3) the micro loan; 4) the repayment. The latter consisted of the subjects: Repayment problems, Repayment process, and Suggestions for improvement of the repayment process.
A first round of discussion among the participants of the workshop revealed that they saw the borrowers themselves as the main determinant of the successful repayment, especially their disciplinary values, financial knowledge, track record and reputation. Next to that, the business plan, the profitability of the business and aspects of the loan (like law enforcement and sanctions) were deemed important
Then the taped interviews with the borrowers took place. After that, the participants of the workshops transcribed the interviews and selected one or two key quotes of each of the subjects Repayment problems, Repayment process, and Suggestions for improvement of the repayment process. These key quotes (a key quote is a limited number of sentences) were transformed to first order codes by the participants (a first order code is a summary of the key quote in one or a few sentences that come originally from the key quote).
Next, the organizers of the workshop combined all key quotes and first order codes per subject. Then the group of participants was divided into three sub-groups (Repayment problems, Repayment process, and Suggestions for improvement of the repayment process), that all focused on transforming the first order codes into second order codes and then the latter into aggregated themes. A second order code is a brief summary in a single word or a few words of a first order code. An aggregated theme combines two or more second order codes.
On the basis of 11 interviews and transcriptions, 72 first order codes, 65 second order codes, 22 aggregated themes and 4 super aggregated themes were distinguished. On the basis of their qualitative research, the teams came up with the following super aggregated themes:
- The cashflow management capabilities of the entrepreneurs need improvement by training them.
- The business planning capabilities of the entrepreneurs need improvement by training them.
- The characteristics of the loan should be more flexible, e.g. offering a grace period when the entrepreneur is not able to pay back in time (partially or fully).
- The policy and attitude of the Micro Finance Institutions )MFIs) can be more into the direction of building up a relationship with the entrepreneurs.
The first three overarching issues clearly combine with the outcome of the first round of discussion among the participants of the workshop, viz. as determinants of successful repayment: the borrowers, the business plan, the profitability of the business and aspects on the loan.
Finally, the participants came up with concrete plans how to set up above mentioned cash flow management and business planning training programs.
During the workshop, attention was also paid to the process of writing an academic paper (and how to get it published in a renowned academic journal) and to the subject of the life cycle of the small firm, especially related to financing aspects.
The next step after this workshop will be for CBU to develop the training programs, in collaboration with stakeholders like banks. This process will also enable CBU researchers to collect data for academic publications. Further, the participants of the workshop will be trained how to use software in qualitative research.
Next
This was the third workshop on qualitative research into the determinants of successful repayment of micro loans. The first two workshops took place in May in Tanzania. For more information to organize a comparable workshop at your university: contact Prof. Enno Masurel, e.masurel@vu.nl.