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ILO, 2017 – 5 pages
The study was designed to test whether expanding access to capital via grants or loans would increase the profits of micro-enterprises owned by men or women and whether the ILO’s entrepreneurship training “Start and Improve Your Business” (SIYB) could further increase impacts. The gender of the programme recipient matters a lot for the impact they can obtain. Men benefit from the package of microloans and training, leading to a 54% increase in profits and similar effects on employment. Other types of assistance such as loans only, grants only, or the combination of grants and training do not lead to sustained impact for men. However, women realise no impact, whether they received loans, grants, training, or any combination of these. The results point to a recent observation by researchers: the success of programmes hinges on who has the power to utilise the interventions being offered. In Uganda, the gender of the person matters a lot for the success of the programme because men and women have different spheres of control and women are more exposed to family pressure.