Determinants of Crowdlending Financing Decisions for Senegalese Startups: The Role of the Project Leader, Partners, and Platform Attributes (Revue Internationale des Sciences de Gestion)

Summary

• Startups in Senegal face high borrowing costs, with microfinance institution interest rates reaching 14% compared to 9% to 10% in traditional finance.p.3
• The empirical study surveyed 257 respondents in Senegal, collecting 192 responses of which 173 were usable, representing an exploitation rate of 67, 32%.p.9
• On average, 50% of the variance in crowdlending financing decisions in the linear regression model is explained by the studied variables.p.12
• Among platform manager attributes, manager experience generated the highest investor agreement at 47,6% on the Likert scale.p.13
• Project leader competence and experience garnered 40,9% and 40,4% investor agreement respectively as positive drivers of funding.p.14
• Platform reputation and platform specialization received 40,9% and 30,33% agreement from respondents as significant determinants.p.14

Key insights

1. Institutional partnerships, particularly with certified accounting firms and disclosed financial institutions, positively influence investor decisions.p.12
2. Partnerships with management and financial intermediation companies were not statistically significant in determining crowdlending outcomes.p.12
3. Project leader characteristics including origin, education level, competence, and experience all demonstrate statistically significant positive effects on campaign success.p.12
4. Platform reputation, specialization, and age are confirmed as significant positive determinants of investor willingness to lend.p.13
5. Financial information certification by chartered accountants serves as a vital market signal to reduce information asymmetry and agency conflicts.p.6
6. Crowdlending serves as a complementary financing mechanism rather than a full substitute for traditional bank lending for early-stage Senegalese startups.p.17