Impact of the COVID-19 Health Crisis on the Indebtedness of Family SMEs in Chad

Abstract

This research aims to assess the effect of the Covid-19 health crisis on the indebtedness of family SMEs in Chad. The sample of this study consists of 150 managers of family SMEs. We used a qualitative method complemented by a quantitative method based on linear regression. After processing the data, the results of our study show that debt is statistically significant and is negatively influenced by the Covid-19 health crisis. Similarly, the relationship between the Covid-19 health crisis and SME debt is moderated by age. The SMEs have not honored their commitments to financial institutions and are almost bankrupt. Finally, the managerial contributions were underlined to overcome the debts of family SMEs in the context of health crisis.