Smangele Nzama

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the primary victims of the COVID-19 outbreak because they lack adequate resources and are poorly prepared for such interruptions. For SMEs to expand, they need financial assistance such as loans and advances from financial service providers. However, they struggle to repay these loans and advances because they are small in size and do not make large turnovers, and owners lack adequate financial literacy. This study aims to investigate the relationship between financial literacy and loan repayment of SMEs. The study followed a positivist paradigm, and a quantitative approach was employed. A total of 110 self-completed Likert questionnaires were distributed, only 107 were filled correctly and analyzed using SPSS. The results from Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed a strong and significant relationship between financial literacy and SME loan repayments at r = 0.324, P < 0.0005. Regression analysis showed a significant linear relationship between financial literacy and SME loans repayments, F (1.152) = 17.806; P < 0.0005. P < 0.0005 is less than the independent variable (SME loans repayments), B = 0.324, P < 0.0005. The results imply that if SME owners are well-versed in finance, they will be capable of repaying outstanding loans and advances timely.

This study aims to investigate the effect that firm-specific factors have on the financial performance of South African insurance companies. This paper looked at the performance of 36 insurers that are publicly traded and have quantifiable markets from 2008 to 2019. The return on assets (ROA) was calculated as a function of the financial performance in this study. While the firm size, leverage ratio, premium growth rate, liquidity ratio, and tangibility of assets were examined as dependent factors using the panel data regression technique, the premium growth rate, liquidity ratio, and tangibility of assets were explored as independent variables. According to the findings of the regression analysis, other firm-specific factors, with the exception of leverage and liquidity ratios, do not have a statistically significant influence on the financial performance of South African insurance companies. A negative and insignificant association was discovered between premium growth rate and ROA at –0.0023 and tangibility of assets and ROA at –0.0113. There was a strong positive and significant relationship between liquidity ratio and ROA at 0.0927, while the size had a positive but insignificant relationship with ROA at 0.0039. Leverage ratio and ROA had a negative but significant relationship at –0.1512. This study suggests that the use of automated systems and insured techs will be advantageous in cutting costs associated with policyholder enrollment, claims agreement, and even easily achieved tailor-made policy initiatives.