TITLE:
Overcoming Financial Barriers for SMEs and Startups in the DRC: Leveraging Digital Financial Services for an Effective Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
AUTHORS:
Pépin Ilonga N’Kupo, Loredana Cultrera, Mélanie Croquet
KEYWORDS:
Digital Financial Services (DFS), Mobile Money, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Crowdfunding, Entrepreneurship
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.14 No.1,
January
26,
2026
ABSTRACT: Digital technologies, in particular mobile money platforms, have made a significant contribution to economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) by improving productivity, employment, and investment. However, access to these technologies is uneven across and within countries, affecting the ability of businesses to use them effectively. Despite the growth of mobile money, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) face significant obstacles in accessing finance, hindering their development and the country’s economic prosperity. This chapter aims to assess the impact of digital financial services (DFS) on SME development in DRC, focusing on how these technologies can improve access to finance and foster entrepreneurship, uses a mixed effects to capture the random, fixed variations of the model combined with structural equation modeling (SEM), allows to analyze direct relationships between variables and examine interrelationships within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The study fills a gap in the literature about the role of DFS in stimulating entrepreneurship in Central Africa, particularly in the DRC, provides information for policymakers and financial institutions to develop strategies that improve SMEs access to finance. The findings underline the importance of creating a favorable socio-economic and political environment to maximize the benefits of digital financial services, policymakers and financial institutions can leverage mobile money and crowdfunding to support SME growth, and thus stimulate economic development in the DRC.