Financial Inclusion and Access to Financing for Agri-food SMEs in the Central African Republic: Determinants and Constraints (International Journal of Accounting, Finance, Auditing, Management and Economics)
Summary
- A cross-sectional survey was conducted in June 2026 among 234 agrifood SMEs randomly selected from 600 enterprises in Bangui, Bimbo, and Bégoua.p.2
- The average share of external financing among the surveyed SMEs reached 57.90 %, with values ranging from 17.20 % to 90.00 %.p.10
- In the Central African Republic, the sector supports nearly 70 % of the active population and generates over 45 % of GDP, while domestic credit to the private sector represents only 13.0 % of GDP.p.3
- Microfinance is the primary external financing source for 32.91 % of surveyed SMEs, followed by commercial banks at 24.79 % and tontines at 20.09 %.p.10
- The multiple linear regression model achieved an adjusted coefficient of determination of 0.720.p.12
- Collateral availability is associated with a +16.3205 percentage point increase in external financing share, while credit access adds +11.8609 percentage points.p.12
Key insights
- Availability of collateral is the strongest positive factor associated with external financing share (+16.3205 percentage points).p.12
- Access to credit shows a significant positive association with the share of external financing (+11.8609 percentage points).p.12
- Firm liquidity is negatively associated with the share of external financing (-4.3230 percentage points), consistent with pecking order theory.p.12
- Information asymmetry negatively affects the share of external financing (-2.8821 percentage points per scale point).p.12
- Firm size (+1.6844) and firm age (+0.4194) both exhibit statistically significant positive associations with external financing reliance.p.12
- Microfinance institutions and commercial banks together serve as the primary external financing channel for 57.69 % of surveyed agrifood SMEs.p.10
- Informal financing channels remain important, with tontines serving as the primary source of external financing for 20.09 % of firms.p.10
- Structural fragility in CEMAC microfinance is severe, with barely 17.9 % of institutions considered globally healthy and 48.7 % classified as very fragile.p.3
Topics and entities
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