Brijlal, P. & Yan, B. (2015). Accessing bank finance in relation to human capital, gender and race among SMMEs in a developing economy. 2015 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM): Singapore, 6 – 9 May 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IEEM.2015.7385825 University of the Western Cape Research Repository pbrijlal@uwc.ac.za Accessing bank finance in relation to human capital, gender and race among SMMEs in a developing economy P. Brijlal and B. Yan Abstract Small, Micro and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) contribute to the national economy significantly. However, many SMMEs have difficulties in accessing bank finance due to the lower level of their human capital and scarce financial resources in the context of developing economies. This study aims to investigate the key factors of human capital and associated issues with access to bank finance from gender and race perspectives. A survey design combined qualitative and quantitative research approaches were employed in this study. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire and a number of interviews. A group of SMME owners (n=532) were randomly selected from the Western Cape, South Africa. The findings demonstrated that the human capital and gender of SMMEs is not strongly associated with success in securing bank finance. From a race perspective, white entrepreneurs are more likely to be approved for bank finance than other race groups. 1. INTRODUCTION Bank finance is critical to the development of Small, Micro and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) [1, 2]. Research shows that financial capital input levels are strong determinants of a new venture’s survival prospects [3, 4] and growth [5]. A number of studies addressed the relevance of human capital to bank finance. It includes education, business training, first business, multiple ownership, management experience and work experience [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]. Hence, human capital is critical initial ‘endowments’ which shape the entrepreneur’s aspirations and choices about the strategic direction of the business [13, 14]. Prior to 1994, South Africa was a developing country governed by apartheid policies which resulted in dividing the various population groups. In 1994, it became a democratic nation, popularly referred to as the ‘rainbow nation’. The labyrinth of apartheid laws and policies in South Africa served to perpetuate a white labour and political aristocracy, denying the black race group, which then comprised the coloured, Indian and African groups, the opportunity to participate fully in the economy. About 80 % of the South African population is made up of black Africans; most of them can be classified as poor [15] with an official unemployment rate of estimate of 24.7% [16]. According to Statistics South Africa (2011), Africans are in the majority, making up 79.2% of the population; coloured and white people each make up 8.9% of the total; and the Indian, Asian, and other population