Agricultural Enterprise Finance Program (AEFP) MICROENTERPRISE MARKET SURVEY Written by: Lief Doerring, Chief of Party Irene Karimi, Microfinance Specialist James Oryema, Logistics/Operations Manager Betty Kaunga Landan, Data Analyst Sanyangi Wangi, Survey Assistant Joyce Kojo, Survey Assistant Achuil Okoch, Survey Assistant June 2003 Under Contract No. 623-C-00-02-00087-00 USAID/REDSO/ECA Nairobi, Kenya SECTION ONE: MARKET ASSESSMENT DATA ANALYSIS............................................................ 3 OVERVIEW.................................................................................................................................................. 3 A. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................................................... 5 B. EDUCATION STATUS ......................................................................................................................... 7 C. ANALYSIS OF THE ENTERPRISES ....................................................................................................... 9 D. BUSINESS CONSTRAINTS................................................................................................................. 15 E. INCOME ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................................... 17 F. CREDIT NEEDS ................................................................................................................................21 G. PROPOSED USE OF LOAN................................................................................................................. 26 H. DESIRED LOAN REPAYMENT TERMS............................................................................................... 27 I. DESIRED LOAN REPAYMENT FREQUENCY........................................................................................ 28 J. SAVINGS PATTERNS ........................................................................................................................ 28 K. REASONS FOR NOT SAVING ............................................................................................................. 30 L. GROUP FORMATION ........................................................................................................................ 31 SECTION TWO: COUNTY PROFILES................................................................................................. 38 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................... 38 3 8 A. YEI COUNTY PROFILE ..................................................................................................................... 39 B. MARIDI COUNTY PROFILE............................................................................................................... 48 C. YAMBIO COUNTY PROFILE ............................................................................................................. 55 D. KAJO KEJI COUNTY PROFILE .......................................................................................................... 63 E. RUMBEK COUNTY PROFILE............................................................................................................. 65 F. TONJ COUNTY PROFILE................................................................................................................... 70 G. KAPOETA COUNTY PROFILE ........................................................................................................... 74 H. BUDI COUNTY PROFILE................................................................................................................... 78 I. PAJAR COUNTY PROFILE: GANYIEL TOWN ..................................................................................... 81 J. NORTH BOR COUNTY PROFILE: PANYAGOR TOWN ......................................................................... 84 K. PAGAK PAYAM PROFILE ................................................................................................................. 88 L. AYOD COUNTY PROFILE ................................................................................................................. 91 ANNEX 1..................................................................................................................................................... 94 ANNEX II: BUSINESS POPULATION BY GENDER, SECTOR AND COUNTY ........................... 95 2 Section One: Market Assessment Data Analysis Overview Chemonics International is implementing a 5-year USAID funded program that will establish a self-sustaining micro-finance institution (MFI) in Southern Sudan. The Southern Sudan Agriculture Enterprise Finance Program (AEFP) was developed with the objective of establishing a viable, self-sustaining financial service organization to provide access to working capital for micro-entrepreneurs. Micro credit is perceived as one avenue of fostering expanded economic opportunity among the southern Sudanese and constitutes an added incentive for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and refugees to return to their homes. The AEF program intends to develop a microfinance institution, develop and pilot a credit delivery methodology, and develop and test various loan and savings products based on both client demand and repayment experience. In preparation for the set up of the microfinance institution, Chemonics International has undertaken a rapid needs assessment and microenterprise market survey in the major towns of Western and Eastern Equatoria, two towns in Bahr el Ghazal, and four communities in Upper Nile, all in South Sudan, to assess a range of potential market areas and conduct a survey of existing enterprises. The information gathered during the survey will be used to better understand: Areas of high micro enterprise concentration The financial needs of the potential clients Existing marketing systems, including profile of traders, types of markets, profile of the informal sector vendors; Existing credit providers; formal and traditional informal sector financial practices; Non-financial business development needs of agri-businesses; The financial needs and capabilities of women, returnees, displaced persons, and refugees in southern Sudan; and The overall economic situation in South Sudan, including key economic variables, such as international and indigenous NGOs, South Sudan civil government structures, traditional legal structures, current security issues, infrastructure, and key trade and market linkages, both domestic and international. 3 The results of the survey presented in Section One, below, will assist in determining the MFI’s first office locations, to develop the loan products, and to inform other operational issues and decisions, such as borrower group formation and management, formation of a board of directors, linkages to the legal and judicial system, and managing the many risks facing an MFI in Sudan as best as possible. The international best practices of microfinance require that a new microfinance institution start with a study of the microenterprise market to enable the institution match its credit and savings services with the demands of the market. An assessment of the client needs is therefore a critical first step in the implementation of the microfinance program. It is for this reason that Chemonics conducted a credit needs assessment survey in five towns offering the best potential for sustainable microfinance in South Sudan. This section of the report outlines the needs of the micro and small enterprise community in the regions covered. Three hundred and sixty (360) micro enterprise business proprietors were interviewed between 27th January 2003 and 14th March 2003 in various towns in South Sudan. The data was keyed into the computer using SPSS builder (version 2.0) and analyzed in SPSS editor (version 10.0). The data was analyzed using frequencies, basic tables, tables of frequencies and cross tabulation. The data is presented by county and then it is consolidated. The report is subdivided into the following sub-topics: - Demographic characteristics, - Business details, - Income source analysis, - Groupings, - Summary/Conclusion, and - The Appendix 4 A. Demographic Characteristics The Southern Sudan Agricultural Enterprise Finance Program (AEFP) microenterprise market survey questionnaires were administered in six locations that were deemed to have adequate scale to support a microfinance institution: Rumbek, 118 questionnaires; Yambio, 87; Maridi, 63; Thiet/ Tonj, 30; and Yei, 62 questionnaires. The team attempted to get questionnaires from at least five percent of the total number of businesses counted in each location. A total of 360 respondents were interviewed. Rumbek and Yambio had the highest representation of 33 percent and 24 percent respectively. Generally, the sample is male dominated (62 percent) with the exception of Thiet where 63 percent of the sample is women in business. Yei had the least female participation (18 percent). The gender representation of 38 percent is quite close to the number that the survey team arrived at after a physical count of all the businesses in the regions surveyed (59 percent male and 41 percent female). Observations at the open air markets in the town centres make one think that there are more women in business than men. This can be attributed to the fact that women are more visible because they trade in makeshift kiosks that line most roads and in the open, on the