Barriers to youth entrepreneurship in N'Djamena, Chad

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged as an effective means of reducing poverty, creating employment, and promoting economic empowerment at the individual, family, and community levels. Although the country is endowed with abundant natural resources, rates of unemployment among the youth of Chad remain alarmingly high. The main objective of this study was to determine the factors which militate against the youth engaging in entrepreneurial activities in N’Djamena, the capital city of Chad. A random sample 150 young Chadian entrepreneurs was selected from a research population which comprised all of the young entrepreneurs in N’Djamena who were registered on the databases of the FONAJ, a national fund which provides financial support to young entrepreneurs in Chad, and the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register (TPPCR) of Chad. The sample size was calculated according to a formula which is widely acknowledged as being appropriate for quantitative studies and 110 potential respondents to the survey questionnaire from which the data were obtained were selected from the former database and 40 from the latter. A letter of consent was obtained from the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports to collect data in N’Djamena and the researcher provided an assurance that all of the information which the participants provided would be treated as strictly confidential and that the participants would remain anonymous. The findings of the study revealed that young entrepreneurs in Chad were faced with obstacles such as a lack of funding, a lack of support from the government for SMEs, and lack of encouragement and financial support from their families. Although there are programmes to assist young entrepreneurs, it was evident from the findings that many experience great difficulty in ensuring the success and sustainability of their businesses. Consequently, they still require additional support with respect to funding, equipment, and assistance and encouragement from their families, financial institutions, and the government, in order to achieve success in their businesses. The thesis concludes with appropriate recommendations for both the government and the young entrepreneurs of N’Djamena to provide relevant insights into how the youth can best be integrated into the entrepreneurial sector in the interests of combating unemployment and enabling them to make a meaningful contribution to the growth of the national economy.