With three-quarters of the Ugandan population under the age of 30 and high levels of youth unemployment, the Governement of Uganda launched the Youth Venture Capital Fund to provide credit and mentoring for young entrepreneurs. The program has suffered from low uptake and high default rates. A team of local researchers investigates how entrepreneurial risk tolerence determines credit demand amongst young entrepreneurs, and the impact that credit counseling has on their borrowing decisions. The findings indicate that credit demand is closely linked to personal risk tolerance, and that while individuals who received credit counseling requested lower amounts of credit than those who did not, they displayed a better understanding of financial management that would allow them to pay back the loan. Find out more about the research methods, findings and policy recommendations in the following PEP publications:
