Factors Affecting Loan Repayment Performance of Urban Women: The Case of North Shewa Zone, Oromiya Region, Ethiopia

The general objective of this study was to identify the major factors that influence the loan repayment performance of urban women in the case of vision fund micro finance institution, in Fiche town. The study was employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Surveys were conducted among urban women who have taken out loans from vision fund micro finance institutions. To select the desired sample from population of the study, stratified random sampling technique was used. Both descriptive statistics and econometric analyses particularly logistic regression (binary logit) was employed to present the results and findings of the research. Inferential statistics were used to identify significant correlations between different factors and loan repayment performance. The descriptive statistics results showed that out of 80 women borrowers 45 (56%) women borrowers were performing well or pay their loan on time while the remaining 35 (44%) were non-performing in their ability to pay their loan on time. In addition, the binary logit model results indicate that 8 variables were considered for the model out of which, 4 variables were found to significantly influence loan repayment performance of women borrowers at less than 5 percent level of significance. Education level of women, experience in credit use, and grace period positively and significantly influenced loan repayment performance of women borrowers while, engagement in social ceremonies negatively influenced the loan repayment performance of women borrowers in the study area. Finally, the researcher recommends that financial institution must provide educational training service related to loan, asses past credit experience of borrower, longer grace period while women borrowers must prioritize their spending pattern to improve their loan repayment performance.