SN Bus Econ (2023) 3:12

https://doi.org/10.1007/s43546-022-00381-5

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Microfinance and women entrepreneurship development:

evidence from Tunisia

Kamel Bel Hadj Miled1,2

Received: 19 December 2021 / Accepted: 22 November 2022 / Published online: 10 December 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of microfinance on
women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment, using national household data from
Tunisia. We have employed Logistic Regressions and Fuzzy-set qualitative com-
parative analysis (fsQCA) to study the consequences of microfinance use.We find
positive and significant effects of access to credit on women’s work, attitudes toward
income increase, execution of the micro-projects, and schooling attendance. The
results confirm the potential of micro-finance in women’s empowerment and Entre-
preneurship Development in Tunisia, especially during COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords  Micro-finance · Entrepreneurship · Women’s empowerment

JEL Classification  G21 · L26 · B54

Introduction

The coronavirus pandemic imposes not only a global health threat but also an eco-
nomic shutdown in many countries especially in developing countries like Tunisia.
Microfinance has since a long time ago assumed a basic part in destitution easing.
It surrenders individuals a hand, engaging them to assist themselves for the way out
of poverty. However, the role of microfinance within COVID-19 recovery efforts is
even more prominent (Onwuka 2021). The award in 2006 of the Nobel Peace Prize
to Muhammad Yunus has made it possible to widely publicize micro-credit as one
of the effective tools for the fight against poverty, and even the empowerment of the
poor and especially of poor women (Elizabeth 2007). Financing of women’s micro-
enterprises is a priority of the microfinance financial system, simply because it is

* Kamel Bel Hadj Miled

kamelbenmiled@gmail.com
1
College of Sciences and Arts Sajir, Shaqra University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2
Laboratory of Management of Innovation and Sustainable Development (LAMIDED),
University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia

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reported that women are the priority target of micro-credit institutions (Guérin and
Servet 2003). Women entrepreneurs in developing countries, however, face several
additional barriers to enterprise such as lack of access to capital, land, and business
premises because asset ownership is male-dominated (Roomi 2005), and they usu-
ally require small loans for business start-ups (S. Mahmood 2011).
The basic measures of women’s empowerment are constructed mainly to capture
the multidimensional nature of the situation of women (Mason 1986) concerning the
main indicators, such as mobility, decision-making, and independence. It is part of
the “gender and development” approach, which has taken over from the “integration
of women in development.” Hashemi et al. (1996) argue that the most challenging
task in conducting female empowerment assessments is to develop a valid and reli-
able measurement index, as accountability can be viewed from different angles.
Microfinance is a sector which concerns the arrangements for allocating small
amounts of credit to low-income people, who are excluded from the banking sys-
tem, and to positively influence their living conditions through the granting of loans
that boost the activity of economic units. Women, who belong to a vulnerable social
category, are the most affected by this phenomenon.  They were often excluded
from development programs. International circles then became aware of the need to
reduce inequalities between men and women while considering their role in devel-
opment plans and projects. This awareness will also promote a series of measures to
improve their status in society. It was then that the concept of “integrating women
into development” was launched (Hoffmann and Marius-Gnanou 2002).
During the 1970s, it was recognized that most development programs tended to
ignore women’s specific problems. The concept of “women’s inclusion in develop-
ment” gained recognition as the international community became more aware of
the need to reduce gender inequalities and the importance of women in reproduc-
tive function and agricultural production. Empowerment may seem like an obvious
solution.  Microfinance institutions encourage women in developing countries to
start micro-enterprises to overcome economic and social barriers. To integrate with
development and combat poverty and exclusion, poor women have used the informal
sector to create a source of income.  In Tunisia, as in developing countries, tack-
ling poverty, exclusion and inequality are critical objectives, and the informal sector
plays a significant role in achieving these goals. However, this sector has grown with
the emergence of microfinance or micro-credit. However, micro-finance appears
to be a tool for emancipation and promotion of the status of women, with multiple
objectives:
- Create a source of income for women and facilitate their financial independence.
- stabilize and professionalize their entrepreneurial activities.
- improve their status within the family.
- Increase self-esteem.
The impact of microfinance on women entrepreneurs and their micro-enterprises
remains under-explored; however, the focus of the larger ongoing research project
from which these initial findings are reported.
Very few studies have justified the relation between microfinance and entrepre-
neurship development in developing countries. Therefore, the question of whether
microfinance improves or worsens entrepreneurship still merits further research. In
SN Bus Econ (2023) 3:12 Page 3 of 16  12

short, there are significant gaps in the relevant literature on developing countries,
including Tunisia, remains to be studied further.
A study by Chowdhury and Jahangir (2008) found that the microfinance program
does not promote women’s entrepreneurship at the household level in Bangladesh,
but it helps to increase the capital of already established businesses. However, Neeti
et  al. (2021) found that microfinance implementation tools— micro-credit, micro-
savings, skill development, business assistance have the significant relationship with
entrepreneurship development.
This study makes two main contributions in the existing literature. First, it
extends previous studies by providing new empirical evidence of the effect of micro-
finance on Women Entrepreneurship development in Tunisia during COVID-19 pan-
demic. Second, to better understand this relationship, this study builds on complex-
ity theory based on fsQCA. This approach has been widely used in recent years in
various domains, because fsQCA controls correctly for endogeneity, noisy data and
collinearity between independent variables (Ragin 2008; Woodside 2014). Using
this approach, researchers have the opportunity to gain a deeper and richer perspec-
tive on the data.
The micro-finance or micro-credit system has emerged as the most appropri-
ate instrument for financing the needs of low-income populations, particularly
women.  Since the Washington summit in 1997, micro-credit has had two main
objectives: to reduce poverty or exclusion and contribute to promoting women’s
entrepreneurship.  And this dual objective gives a new approach to microfinance
institutions.
In Tunisia, the micro-credit system was implemented in March 1999 to promote
national solidarity. Similarly, these micro-credit programs aim at the economic and
social integration of the poor, creating sources of income, and improving the living
conditions of the poorest.
The participation of Tunisian women in these programs is remarkable, and the
rate of her participation rises from one year to another from 38% in 2005 to 57% in
2019 (African Development Bank 2019).1 This shows the Tunisian woman’s aware-
ness of creating financial autonomy to improve her living conditions and integrate
economically and socially through the creation of productive projects.

Context of micro‑credit in Tunisia

Despite the diversity of funding programs, a segment of the population remains

away from the various funding instruments. This population could not turn to com-
mercial banks because of the lack of guarantees and qualifications.  In addition, it
was necessary to create a financing instrument that would allow the poorest to take
charge of themselves and have a source of income while settling on the land of their

1
  AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, 2021. FINANCIAL SECTOR MODERNISATION SUPPORT
PROGRAMME II—(PAMSFI II). TUNISIA.
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ancestors. This is how the micro-credit system was born in Tunisia, which enabled
the poorest social stratum to fight against poverty and banish the assisted mentality.

Inter‑Arab Enda

Founded in 1990, the NGO Enda Inter-arabe began its activity by supporting eco-
logical and development projects. It introduced micro-credit in 1995 to reach peo-
ple excluded from adequate financing. In 2015, after serving 500,000 clients, Enda
evolved and decided to transfer its micro-credit activities to Enda Tamweel, the
NGO focusing on supporting entrepreneurship. Over the years, it has become a ref-
erence institution in Tunisia and the Arab world in microfinance.  Today, the two
structures combine a tailor-made offer to contribute to the financial empowerment
of marginalized populations, including women and youth and farmers and ranchers.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Enda Inter-Arabe, has been awarded
the rating «Alpha» by the rating agency "Micro Rate" for its financial performance
and «Excellent» for its social performance. With the awarding of the "alpha" rating
("alpha + " being the maximum rating), Enda progressed and obtained one of the
best ratings issued by the agency, among more than 450 ratings made on MFIs from
Latin America Eastern Europe and Africa. The result of the study, dating from May
2010, confirms a continuous annual increase since the first rating in 2005.
It should be noted that, in the interest of transparency and improvement of its
services, Enda has used rating agencies to evaluate its social and financial activities
since 2005. With 130,000 active customers, a total of 358 million Tunisian dinars
granted, and 630,000 loans awarded since 1995 (figures for May 2010), Enda called
on the credit risk rating agency MicroRate, to perform the MFI’s fourth rating to
assess and optimize activities.
Thus, the rating obtained by Enda, qualified as excellent by the rating agency, is
explained by the work undertaken on three axes: the diversification of the proposed
products, the consolidation of the structure of Enda Inter-Arabe, and the reorganiza-
tion of its portfolio. The rating agency explained that this result was justified by the
particular effort made on sound management, securing diversified funds, and main-
taining a relatively low-interest rate (compared to others rated by the agency).
Micro-rate also described Enda Inter-Arabe’s social outcomes as excellent.  The
agency based its assessment on the efforts made to protect clients and improve their
services. Other factors were taken into account: sound financial management, which
helped to support social activities in favor of clients but also of staff, the decentrali-
zation project, the development of new products that have effectively affected the
target populations of micro-credit, and a strong culture of social engagement.

Tunisian solidarity bank (BTS)

The Tunisian Solidarity Bank (BTS) was created in 1997 on the initiative of the
Tunisian State to finance young graduates of higher education and vocational train-
ing. She specializes in microfinance for the promotion of tiny enterprises (TPE). It
SN Bus Econ (2023) 3:12 Page 5 of 16  12

has a capital of 60 million dinars (54% public and 46% private) with a shareholder
base (more than 220,000 shareholders).
The BTS thus appears as a microfinance institution but borrows several charac-
teristics of solidarity finance. Moreover, it is an independent institution. In fact, there
is no intermediary between the bank and the entrepreneur. The BTS is an institution
inspired by the Grameen Bank. This is one of the first experiences of implementing
micro-credit practices (Manaï 2005).  For this, BTS is the crucial experiment that
can be studied. It finances projects not eligible for credit under the traditional bank-
ing system.  The major innovation is its most extensive geographical and sectoral
intervention. The target population is most widespread, with a particular interest for
higher education graduates. The BTS is the first experiment that allows the poor to
obtain small loans (without guarantees) that facilitates the exercise of an independ-
ent and income-generating activity (Benarous 2004). The question remains whether
this institution respects the missions assigned to it to meet the objectives of its crea-
tion. To answer this question, we can rely on the analysis of the creative texts and
internal documents of the BTS.
Moreover, the population sought by the BTS is mainly made up of young grad-
uates and qualified professionals, inhabited by the idea of a profitable project and
wishing to establish themselves for their own account but who have neither the
means nor sufficient collateral to request credit from another bank.

Micro‑credits granted by associations

Micro-credit is any credit aimed at helping economic and social integration. These

micro-credits are granted to finance the acquisition of small inputs necessary for pro-
duction or in the form of working capital. These credits may also be given to financ-
ing needs to improve living conditions." The associations do not have the right to
distribute profits, and the reimbursement by the beneficiaries is made to the associa-
tions which keep the proceeds of interest and return the principal to the BTS. How-
ever, these associations are under the control of the Department of Finance and must
maintain regular accounting. They shall also be subject to external audit if deemed
necessary.  If an association fails to fulfill its obligations, it may be subject to the
withdrawal of its authorization to register loan contracts and value-added tax.
A maximum of 4000 dinars characterizes the micro-credit system in Tunisia for
productive activities and 700 dinars for improving living conditions, a maximum
interest rate of 5% per annum, and a maximum repayment period of 3  years with
the possibility of deductibility. In addition, the amounts used for each association
for granting micro-credit must be at least 95% of the resources allocated to the
micro-credit credit, and the total amount of credit granted by each association for the
financing of needs for the improvement of living conditions must not exceed 20% of
the resources. Also, micro-credits are eligible for the FNG National Guarantee Fund
(90% taken over by the FNG and 10% by the association).
Finally, the association receives an installation fee of 15,000 Dinars and an oper-
ating fee of 20 Dinars per file with a ceiling of 10,000 Dinars per year.
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On this basis, we propose in the framework of this paper to identify the contri-
bution of micro-credit to the capacity building of women in Tunisia. The literature
review on the various works established on the relationship between microfinance
and female entrepreneurship will be examined in the second section. The third sec-
tion will report the empirical methodology adopted (sample presentation, test and
comments). The conclusion, which is the subject of the fourth section, will take up
the main lessons learned from the empirical study carried out in this paper.

Objectives of the study

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of microfinance on women’s

entrepreneurship and empowerment in Tunisia.

i. To examine the role of microfinance on women’s entrepreneurship development

and empowerment in Tunisia.
ii. To examine the relationship between micro-credit, micro-savings, Payment
deadline, Business sector, skills development programs, age and women entre-
preneurship using microfinance services in Tunisia.

Hypothesis

The following null hypotheses were constructed and tested.

Hypothesis 01: There is a significant relationship between micro-credit and
women entrepreneurial development in using microfinance services in Tunisia.
Hypothesis 02: There is a significant relationship between micro-savings and
women entrepreneurial development using microfinance services in Tunisia.
Hypothesis 03: There is a significant relationship between age and women entre-
preneurship using microfinance services in Tunisia.
Hypothesis 04: There is a significant relationship between skills development and
entrepreneurship using microfinance services in Tunisia.
Hypothesis 05: There is a significant relationship between Business sector and
entrepreneurship using microfinance services in Tunisia.

Literature review

Studies of Women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment have been the subject of

several studies.  These studies were done either at the request of funding agencies
or as academic work or to better target the use of funds to achieve specific social
and economic objectives.  Chatterjee et  al. (2018) show that group-based financial
services to micro-enterprises empower women borrowers and translate into eco-
nomic upliftment. Neeti Mathur et  al. (2021) found that microfinance implemen-
tation tools— micro-credit, micro-savings, skill development, business assistance
have the significant link with entrepreneurship development. Attention has been
paid to microfinance as one of the contributors to poverty reduction, women’s
SN Bus Econ (2023) 3:12 Page 7 of 16  12

empowerment, health, education, democratization, and environmental improvement

(Mayoux 2001a; Chandrasekar and Prakash, 2010).
Existing studies on the impact of micro-finance on women’s empowerment vary
considerably in terms of the findings of these studies and the measures and indica-
tors of women’s empowerment used. In the existing literature, it is clear that there
is no consistent measure of female empowerment; however, some indicators have
always been seen as the most critical determinants of empowerment in most studies.
Some of these critical indicators used include mobility, political and legal aware-
ness, economic security (Hashemi et al. 1996, Steele et al. 1998), decision-making
capacity (Mizan 1993; Pitt et al. 2006, Steele et al. 1998), and increasing assets and
controlling those assets (Goetz and Gupta 1996; Montgomery 2005). It is intended
that targeting micro-finance programs toward women can empower them in vari-
ous aspects of their lives. In addition, women are considered reasonable credit risks
(Garikipati 2008) and are therefore less likely to abuse the credit they receive. While
some studies show that micro-finance has developed at the confidence level of
women by helping them increase their income opportunities (Hashemi et al. 1996;
Pitt et  al. 2006), others suggest that loans given to women in most cases end up
with their husbands or under their control, which in the long run makes women even
more vulnerable (Garikipati 2012; Rahman et al. 2009).
Women’s empowerment was also associated with the length of time. Women
were considered clients of MFIs. Above all, women’s solidarity groups confirm that
women’s participation in micro-credit programs helps develop social networks while
improving levels of access to the economy and financial resources. The establish-
ment of these social networks allows women to know each other. It also increases
the level of awareness and political and social inclusion among women (Bali et al.
2014).
In addition, with the support of IMFs (which includes micro-credit and training),
women can gain better control over their financial assets, including their savings
and income (Li et  al. 2011a). This, in the long term, affects their participation in
household decision-making (Hashemi et al. 1996; Pitt et al. 2006). Most MFIs aim
to help women achieve financial independence. For example, it is said that women
can become economically self-sufficient when they begin to take control of their
financial assets (Li et al. 2011a). Anderson and Eswaran (2009) point out that with
economic emancipation, there is an increase in female empowerment, usually high-
lighted in purchasing decision-making. In addition, Armendariz de Aghion and
Morduch (2005) argue that micro-finance affects women’s bargaining power and the
level of resources available.  Steele et  al. (1998) often find that micro-finance has
not significantly impacted women’s decision-making capacity. Rahman et al. (2009)
also found no significant impact of micro-finance on women’s empowerment.
In this respect, although micro-finance positively affects women’s empower-
ment and the accumulation of resources, existence, however, various dimensions of
empowerment, some of which are hampered by the presence of social and cultural
constraints.  For example, Montgomery et  al. (1996) argue that micro-credit pro-
grams exacerbate discrimination against women and reinforce gender inequality. In
some cases, men are excluded from micro-credit programs, which reinforces ine-
qualities, generating friction between men and women in the family. This is because
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men feel threatened. After all, they are convinced that they may be less favorable
to women (see, for example,  Mayoux 1999; Armendariz de Aghion and Morduch
2005).
Most studies are either examining the context of the environment in which micro-
finance operates or investigating the potential effect on macroeconomic variables,
such as gross domestic product or inequality.  There is some evidence to suggest
that microfinance is indeed effective and beneficial to clients (Imai et al. 2010; Imai
and Azam 2012), while other wide-ranging literatures suggest the opposite (Hulme
and Mosley 1996; Hulme 2000; Copestake 2002; Hoque 2005; Shaw 2004; Nghiem
et al. 2012). This study’s interest is to clarify a theme that has not been much dis-
cussed, namely the direct link between microfinance and women’s entrepreneurship
and empowerment.

Research methodology

The data source

The population studied is the total number of women receiving micro-credit dur-
ing 2021, 450 women from development associations in the Monastir and Sousse
regions. It was based on the records of the requests for micro-credits made by these
women to associations belonging to the Governorate of Monastir and Sousse.
For the research study, 450 respondents were selected. These respondents were
beneficiaries of micro-credit associations and engaged in their own business, such as
artisans, retailers, small-scale manufacturers, producers of agricultural products. The
data used are based on 450 loan application files issued within these associations.
These data are qualitative and quantitative concerning socio-demographic charac-
teristics and the borrowing of women.
Data processing is on the basis of basic statistics (number and percentage), logis-
tic regression and Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA).
Our objective is to study the role of micro-credit granted by development associa-
tions of women entrepreneurship development in Tunisia.

Modeling methods

Binary logit model

The logistic function used is defined as:

( )
pi
Zi = log
1 − pi

where "p" is the probability of entrepreneurship development, from the previous

relation, we can have the probability p, that is:
SN Bus Econ (2023) 3:12 Page 9 of 16  12

Exp(Zi )
pi =
1 + Exp(Zi )

where Zi is the dependent variable. It represents the Development (or not) of the
Entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship Development: Judged on the basis of the questions like increase
in assets of business, family income, turnover of the business, number of buyers, and
loan repayment capacity (Neeti Mathur et al. 2021). Table 1 presents all the inde-
pendent variables of the model.

FsQCA

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is a technique that is capable of bridging

the gap between qualitative and quantitative analyses (Rihoux and Ragin 2009).
This method has attracted significant attention on various domains, such as mark-
ing (Capatina et  al. 2017; Meneses et  al. 2016); tourism (Olya and Mehran 2017;
Olya and Al-ansi 2018), finance (Isaksson and Woodside 2016; Vizcaíno and
Chousa 2016) and economics (Arts and Koning 2017; Aloysius and Zhang 2019).
The fsQCA (fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, or AQC) method, devel-
oped in political science by Ragin (1987) then democratized in management by Fiss
(2009) and (2011). It allows both to take into account the specificities of the cases
while adopting a holistic and rigorous approach, thus combining the advantages of
qualitative and quantitative methods. The fsQCA method thus makes it possible to
highlight the causal complexity underlying many phenomena in social sciences,
i.e., phenomena subject to three sources of complexity (Vergne and Depeyre 2016;
Ragin 2008). In our study, we used the fsQCA method to examine the robustness of
the results found previously.
The fsQCA technique requires that all the variables be calibrated in fuzzy logic
with values ranging from 0 to 1. Thus, all the variables will be transformed into con-
tinuous variables from 0 to 1, which define their membership level.
The formula for calculation of consistency and coverage can be calculated as
follows:
Consistency ( Xj ≤ Yj ) =
∑� � �� ∑ � �
min Xj , Yj ∕ Xj
Coverage Xj ≤ Yj =
� � ∑� � �� ∑ � �
min Xj , Yj ∕ Yj
Xj is the membership score in the set of causal conditions, and Yj is the member-
ship score in the outcome condition.

Results and discussion

Results of binomial logit model

As we specified previously, the use of a logistic regression for the modeling

of a binary variable is the most appropriate because of the nature of the studied

12  Page 10 of 16

Table 1  Independent variables
Variables Type Descriptor Concept

Socio-demographic variables
Age Numerical AGE Customer’s age
Education Dichotomous PRIMARY SCHOOL It takes the value of 1 if the beneficiary studied at only primary school and 0 otherwise
SECONDARY SCHOOL It takes the value of 1 if the beneficiary studied at secondary school and 0 otherwise
HIGH SCHOOL It takes the value of 1 if the beneficiary studied at High school and 0 otherwise
Marital status Dichotomous MARITAL It takes the value of 1 if the beneficiary is Marrie and 0 otherwise
Business sector Categorical ARTISAN 1 if the beneficiary is artisan
SERVICE 2 if the beneficiary is service sector
TRADE 3 if the beneficiary is trade sector
Micro savings Dichotomous MSAVING It takes the value 1 if there is an improvement of beneficiary’s saving level and 0 if not
Skill development Dichotomous SKILL.D It takes the value 1 if there is useful in improving the earning capacity of beneficiary’s and 0 if not
Loan variables
Amount of micro-credit Numerical AMOUNT Amount of loan (TND)
Payment deadline Numerical DURATION micro-credit payment deadline

TND is the currency of Tunisia

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Table 2  Results of binomial Coefficients Standard error Student

Logit model
AGE  −0.067 0.042 0.10***
PRIMARY SCHOOL  −0.469 0.681 0.491
SECONDARY SCHOOL 0.287 1.082 0.791
MARITAL  −3.146 1.707 0.065*
TRADE  −1.346 1.719 0.434
SERVICE 3.758 2.447 0.125
MSAVING 0.154 0.070 0.027**
SKILL.D 2.059 1.118 0.065*
DURATION  −1.457 1.097 0.184**
AMOUNT 0.006 0.003 0.023**
Cost 10.622 4.458 0.017**

Entrepreneurship development
*Significant at 10% level
**Significant at 5% level
***Significant at 1% level

endogenous variable. This technique makes it possible to predict the values taken by
a discrete variable from a series of continuous or binary explanatory variables (Tra-
belsi M and Chichti J 2011).
This paper aims to study the induced effects of the participation of women entre-
preneurs in micro-loan programs and test the impact of these micro-credits on entre-
preneurship development. Table  2 summarizes the model estimation results using
the STATA 14 software.
This result indicates that the variables Amount of Micro-credit (AMOUNT) and
"Skill development" are positive and statistically significant. This result is evident
since the more significant the benefit, the better the situation. On the other hand,
we find that the age variable is negative and statistically significant, indicating that
micro-credit has a better effect for young women entrepreneurs for creators in the
realization of their projects.
The second variable, "DURATION," is significant at the 5% threshold, but its
coefficient is negative, implying that the higher the monthly payment, the more the
tendency toward the probability of project defeat. So, to ensure that the situation of
an entrepreneur (woman), who has just applied for a micro-credit, will be improved
after indebtedness, we must think about reducing the monthly payments or toler-
ating more in the amounts granted.  Based on the data collected, it was noted that
there is a difference between the amount requested and the amount awarded in most
cases. So, if the concern of those in charge is to improve the situation of a person
living in precarious situations, we must tolerate the amounts granted, and why not
consider going further to the ceiling.  At the 10% threshold, the only family status
variable determines the characteristics of women and, more particularly, the variable
"MARITAL." The single woman does not have much charge by comparing her with
a married woman who has children. So the credit obtained improves the situation of
a single. The reason for indebtedness variable for « MSAVING» is also significant
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Page 12 of 16 SN Bus Econ (2023) 3:12

at the 10% threshold, which implies that the micro-credit obtained improves the ben-
eficiary’s standard of living.
For the department, variable for "Education" is not significant. This comes back,
perhaps, to the follow-up carried out with the women beneficiaries. The amount
obtained may not result in a period of one year. Therefore, it is not possible to know
if the women beneficiaries, for reasons of education, are satisfied. Moreover, and for
greater relevance, follow-up should normally be done after loan payment and not
within one year. This represents a limit to our empirical study. Another limitation in
our research is that observing situations after indebtedness is not a direct observa-
tion on the ground. It was a telephone report in which the women concerned could
hide the truth and may not give accurate information.
In conclusion, and from what we have obtained from the results, it must be
deduced that the micro-credit policy has given the funded women an opportunity to
get out of precarity and enable them to improve their business.

Results of fsQCA

Table  3 presents the causal configuration in predicting low and high scores of
women entrepreneurship development in Tunisia.
The main objective of this estimate is to examine the relationship between micro-
credit, Micro-saving, skills development programs, micro-credit payment deadline,
Business sector and age of beneficiaries of micro-credit allocated by MFIs (microfi-
nance institutions) in Tunisia.
One consistent and sufficient causal recipe explained the Entrepreneurship
Development (coverage: 0.131, consistency: 0.773). The model (M1) suggests that
females with high amounts of micro-credit, low repayment period (DURATION),
and working in service sector have a high score of Entrepreneurship Development.
These factors have a positive effect on opportunity for entrepreneurial activity.
These results are in line with Karlan and Valdivia (2011) and Neeti Mathur et  al.
(2021), who concluded that microfinance has had a positive impact on entrepreneur-
ship development.
The second model (M2) suggests that young married female working in service
activity which low amount of micro-credit and high micro-savings, lead to have a
high score of Entrepreneurship Development.
The third model indicates that older, less-educated female working in service
sector, who benefited from low amount of micro-credit and useful in improving
the earning capacity, results in increase in assets of business and loan repayment
capacity.
Model 4 advises that female working in service benefited from low amount of
micro-credit and less deadline of repayment lead to the improvement of the assets of
business which confirms the significant relationship between micro-credit and entre-
preneurial development in using microfinance services in Tunisia.
 SN Bus Econ (2023) 3:12

Table 3  Causal recipes of entrepreneurship development

Models for predicting high and low score of entrepreneurship development Raw coverage Unique coverage Consistency

Entrepreneurship development = f(SKILL.D, AMOUNT, DURATION, MSAVING, SERVICE, AGE)

M1: ~ SKILL.D * ~ AMOUNT * ~ DURATION * MSAVING * SERVICE * ~ AGE 0.131 0.131 0.773
Solution coverage: 0.131
Solution consistency: 0.773
 ~ Entrepreneurship development = f(SKILL.D, AMOUNT, DURATION, MSAVING, SERVICE, AGE)
M1 * ~ SKILL.D * ~ AMOUNT * ~ DURATION * MSAVING * SERVICE * ~ AGE 0.228 0.053 0.782
M2: * ~ AMOUNT * ~ SKILL.D * ~ DURATION * MSAVING * SERVICE* ~ AGE 0.527 0.196 0.818
M3: ~ SKILL.D * ~ DURATION * MSAVING * SERVICE* ~ AGE 0.355 0.027 0.756
M4: * ~ AMOUNT * ~ DURATION *MSAVING * SERVICE * ~ AGE 0.228 0.07 0.779
Solution coverage: 0.646
Solution consistency: 0.754

Complex solution, * represents “and”, and ~ represents “negation”

Page 13 of 16  12
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Page 14 of 16 SN Bus Econ (2023) 3:12

Conclusion and policy implications

Throughout this chapter, an attempt was made to provide an overview of the Tuni-
sian experience with micro-credit.  The evolution of microfinance and Women’s
entrepreneurship in Tunisia was the subject of two first sections.The last section
relates to an empirical investigation: the study of the results of a small survey car-
ried out among certain women receiving micro-credit from these development
associations. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of micro-
finance on women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment in Tunisia It has been
found that microfinance implementation tools— micro-credit, micro-savings, skill
development, Business sector have the significant relationship with entrepreneur-
ship development. Micro-finance has spread remarkably, thanks to the proliferation
of agencies that help and finance people with low income. Its emergence has been
fostered by information from informal finance and the desire to institutionalize eve-
ryday practices, by the need to integrate the financial excluded, and by broadening
the concepts of sustainable development relating to decent living conditions and the
participation of women. Tunisia’s microfinance experience is rich and has benefited
from the arrival of new players in the 1990s. Micro-credit policy is the main step in
this development process. In collaboration with other organizations, such as NGOs
and specialized financing funds, the Tunisian Solidarity Bank plays a crucial role in
applying for micro-finance projects, entrepreneurship development and improve the
living conditions of households. The credits are effectively accessible to the people
or the gatherings to begin the business, which prompts new employment opportuni-
ties, which address the joblessness issue. Microfinance works at a fundamental level
by providing support, it works without loan collateral and provides skills develop-
ment assistance to marginalized rural people.
Funding  The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.

Data availability  The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding
author upon reasonable request.

Declarations 
Conflict of interest  On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of
interest.

Ethical approval  Ethics approval was not required for such study.

Informed consent  Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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