Journal of Economics and Development Studies

Microfinance, Entrepreneurship and Community Resilience in the Context of Countries in Crisis: Case of the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Kambale Mbakul’irah Benoit

Abstract
This study focuses on microfinance, entrepreneurship and community resilience in the context of countries in crisis, the case of the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is based on a descriptive and qualitative approach based on observations, personal experiences and the results of the work of Western authors and a few African authors on the informal sector in developing countries. The objective is to analyze and describe the contexts in which microfinance and community entrepreneurship evolves in the eastern Provinces of the DRC. In a specific way, this study attempts to show that community resilience in the East of the DRC is the result of the demand for financial services by businesses in the “informal” sector or at least community entrepreneurship and sustainable supply informal microfinance or social microfinance institutions. It also attempts to demonstrate how training in financial education and pragmatic entrepreneurship of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as digital finance allows the direct or indirect banking of social microfinance institutions. It first describes and analyzes the types of community microfinance institutions: mode of creation, organization, coordination and control. Then it examines the types of financial products, risks, marketing strategies and supply limits. Finally, it highlights the integration of community microfinance into the formal financial system as one of the determining factors of community resilience.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jeds.v12n1a6