Assessment of the impact of cost of alternative energy sources on the profitability of small scale businesses in Uganda : a case study of Ngora District

Abstract

The study assessed the cost of alternative sources of energy on the small scale businesses in Ngora district, Uganda. The study based on the following objectives: to find out whether the cost of electricity affects the revenue of small and medium scale enterprises, to find out whether there is independence between the cost of installation solar and the profitability of Small scale businesses, to find out whether the cost of fuel affects the profitability of SMEs and to find out whether there is a relationship between the cost of maintaining biomass and the profitability of small and medium scale enterprises. The study adapted a cross sectional survey design where both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. In this study a total number of 100 respondents were expected and all the 100 respondents were acquired giving a response rate of 100%. The data was collected using questionnaires and interviews and analysis was done using ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, chi-square and linear regression. Findings revealed that there is a negative significant relationship between the cost of electricity and the total profits, the coefficient is -0.225** and p =0.049. The findings reveal that the negative relationship showed that an increase in the cost of electricity results into a reduction in the profits attained. It was concluded that there is need to reduce on the costs of electricity.