Micro-crédit, Augmentation du pouvoir d’achat et Amélioration des conditions de vie des populations précaires en milieu urbain africain : Résultats d’une expérience menée dans la zone de santé de Bandalungwa à Kinshasa, Congo.

Purchasing power increase, improvement of living conditions and health funding of vulnerable people in African urban areas: the case of the health zone of Bandalungwa, Kinshasa (Congo)

Through a survey, the study analyses the living improvement possibilities for microentrepreneurs, by the improvement of their purchasing power through microcredits provided by the Programme National d’Appui à la Protection Sociale (PNPS), in the health zone of Bandalungwa (Kinshasa).
The credits were affected to wheat flour, starches, fresh food, fruits and vegetables, small restoration, smoked fish, clothing, electronic devices. Main results suggest that 68% of the microentrepreneurs financed by the program have declared improved living conditions. This improvement was associated to access to health care, children schooling, household’s access to food, loan reimbursement, and rent payment. The bivariate analysis has shown that those who had invested the whole credit in the funded activity experienced living improvement. To help vulnerable people in increasing their purchasing power, the loans should be linked to projects that are helpful to the households, and avoid that households use the credit in unsuitable ways, which could maintain them in a high level of debt.