The development of a community, especially a poor community, hinges on interventions from development workers in government and non government organisations. In the recent past, microfinance has been strongly recommended as an intervention that could assist poor people to improve their quality of life by providing small amounts of money to initiate development enterprises. The microfinance services are provided through microfinance institutions. This study was aimed at establishing the role of microfinance in the socioeconomic development of women in a community. Mpigi Town Council in Uganda was the study area. Fifty respondents were interviewed and eight of these were employees of microfinance institutions and two worked as technical staff from Mpigi District Local Government. Twelve microfinance institutions were identified as providing services to the community in Mpigi Town Council. A variety of literature on microfinance in the developed world, developing world, Africa, Uganda and Mpigi Town Council was reviewed. It was noted that the year 2005 was identified as the International Year of Micro-credit during which its significance would be highlighted. The aim of the international year of microcredit was to improve on the knowledge, access and utilization of micro-credit by poor people in the developing world. During the literature review, it was evident that the literature on the impact of microfinance on the socio-economic development of women in Mpigi Town Council was lacking. By filling this gap, this research will be a referral document for other researchers and a resource book for microfinance institutions during the implementation of their programmes. The study was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the data that was presented in tables, graphs and numbers to show the role played by microfinance in the socio-economic development of women in a community.The findings of the study reveal that microfinance institutions operating in Mpigi Town Council provide services like training and skills development, insured credit facilities and savings mobilisation, banking facilities, supervision and monitoring of the clients, provision of agriculture inputs like seeds and chemicals and physical items like animals (cows, goats, pigs, sheep etc). The services are particularly provided to women groups, salary earners, and individual women and men. The repayment of the credit facilities is usually through weekly and monthly instalments. The size of the loan depends on the MFI but ranges from one hundred thousand to millions of shillings. The security usually required is group collateral in case of groups, salary in case of salary earners and any other as deemed necessary for the individual by the MFI. The study established that women who accessed the loans from MFIs were able to improve their socio-economic status through starting up and or expanding investments and enterprises, paying school fees for their children, purchase of household items like furniture, land and solar installation, building of houses, confidence building, participation in leadership roles etc. The research also found out that women face some challenges in their access and utilization of the MFI services and these include; small amounts of money disbursed, diversion of funds, high interest rates, low returns on investment, short grace periods, unfavourable repayment schedules and risk of property confiscation by the MFI. The respondents recommended that the government should intervene, especially where interest rate is concerned and centralize it or make it uniform and also monitor the operations of the MFIs so that they offer adequate services to the women. As far as the MFIs are concerned, the respondents recommended that they should lower the interest rate, empathize with their clients, monitor and supervise more vigorously, collaborate with fellow MFIs, increase grace period and enlist the support of employers in the area. For the microfinance beneficiaries, the beneficiaries recommended that they should not divert the funds but should use them for the purpose intended. Furthermore, they should not move from one MFI to another. They ought to acquire the loan when they have some investment already, study the MFI before acquiring the services and support each other as a group to ensure that there is progress in the various undertakings. The results of the research have led to the assertion and affirmation that although the benefits may vary from one beneficiary to another and from one community to another, microfinance has in various ways played a significant role in the socio-economic development of women in Mpigi Town Council. This research report will be used as a document for other researchers and a resource book for the microfinance institutions in Mpigi Town Council. / Development Studies / M.A. (Social Science (Development Studies)

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Currently, some microfinance institutions in Bolivia are adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and publish the results. CSR is applied mostly by big companies in the North and in sectors more in the eye of the public, such as oil production or textile and apparel. Bolivia has been the pioneer in the commercialization of microfinance through microfinance NGO transformations. The objectives of this investigation was to asses and compare the reasons why the selected Bolivian commercial MFI's were engaged, or not engaged, in CSR. Secondly, to determine which stakeholders are more relevant for each MFI analysed, assessing how they influenced the decision to adopt or not adopt CSR and thirdly, to compare the current social performance of the selected MFI's within the framework of corporate social responsibility. / South Africa

No description available.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2013. / This research work explores the risks that microfinance institutions (MFIs) face in their operations and the risk management strategies they adopt to mitigate their risks. Microfinance institutions serve some of the world’s most financially challenged population who otherwise would not have access to banking services. Risk management within the context of microfinance banking has gained importance within the last decade due partly to the fact that most MFIs are adopting business/profitability principles in their operations. Also, due to the recent financial crisis, MFI cannot afford to be indifferent to risk management practices in the battle for survival, financial sustainability and self-sufficiency. The data for this study is from both secondary and primary sources; 48 MFIs in Ghana responded to a questionnaire made up of 25 questions. Analysis of the responses obtained was done using Chi-Square test of equal proportions, P-values and other descriptive statistics. The Analysis found that the microfinance institutions surveyed are aware of the types of risk inherent in their line of business and do in varying ways employ some form of risk management strategies to mitigate losses and enhance profitability. Since credit granting stands at the core of the operations of MFIs, the management of risk as a result of the credits extended is crucial for their survival and profitability.

The present master thesis deals with non-banking microfinance institutions and examines its abilities and role in the poverty alleviation process. It is more than necessary to pay attention to the rural sector and its development as any successful transition of the economy requires transition of the rural sector as well. In many transition economies people in the rural areas continue to live on the edge of poverty, engaged in subsistence agriculture and remain susceptible to wide range of shocks. In such countries rural population unlike urban one did not benefit to the same extend from transition and need special attention and supporting policy measures. Due to low penetration rate of microfinance institutions into rural areas, lacking or insufficient size of collateral, financial illiteracy many poor but active man face problems to obtaining finance for the development of new income opportunities. In this context the master thesis emphasizes the role of savings and credit associations, which unlike the commercial banks operate mainly in rural sector, have the most significant effect on poverty alleviation. Finally, the author analyses the activity of 3 non-banking microfinance institutions of the Republic of Moldova and uses publicly available data to calculate the outreach, efficiency and...

Microfinance has been hailed as a “magic bullet” for poverty alleviation and women’s empowerment, and many believe that microfinance organizations (MFOs) can help the world’s poor move up the socioeconomic ladder. However, MFOs are also under increasing pressure to demonstrate high levels of organizational efficiency, economies of scale, and strong financials. The expectations facing these organizations are thus inherently contradictory: MFOs must do good and at the same time do well. In this dissertation, I focus on the expectations and demands imposed on MFOs by external evaluators. More specifically, I investigate how rating practices and the idealized organizational images that these project were constructed and worked in the Indian microfinance sector from 1999-2014. Through their credit recommendations, rating agencies not only direct the flow of resources in the market; their assessments also constitute a type of normative guidance for MFOs, signaling a set of criteria and ideals for how organizations should act and be structured, as well as which goals should be prioritized and pursued. In my analysis, I identify three sequential and distinct idealized images which are encoded in the rating reports during the study period. This means that ratings lead to the reinforcement of one particular model of conducting microfinance. I also find that prominent raters play a dual role. First, they inform MFOs about the idealized image by codifying what “is out there”, thus explicating institutional pressures. At the same time, they also actively contribute to the construction of idealized images, thereby suggesting which organizations and organizational features should be bestowed with legitimacy. The construction of the idealized image is found to be more noticeable during the early years of the study period, when the field was newly emerging. / <p>Diss. Stockholm :  Stockholm School of Economics, 2015</p>

Au Cameroun, la microfinance s’affirme désormais comme un élément fort capable d’améliorer l’offre et l’accès des services bancaires des couches sociales souvent exclues. C’est la raison pour laquelle, le législateur de la Communauté économique et monétaire de l’Afrique centrale (CEMAC) avait décidé de confectionner un régime juridique spécifique pour permettre à cette nouvelle technique de financement de s’installer et de se développer tout en assurant la fiabilité des acteurs et la maîtrise des opérations. En ce qui concerne sa dimension économique, la microfinance se positionne comme un instrument majeur capable d’œuvrer pour l’intégration de l’économie dite informelle à l’économie formelle. Or, il est désormais acquis que l’économie ne fonctionnera pas sans un droit économique spécifique. Ce droit économique dont l’appréhension apparaît si nécessaire s’est traduit par le droit de l’Organisation pour l’harmonisation en Afrique du droit des affaires (OHADA). Ainsi la microfinance a la particularité de combiner des instruments juridiques de nature différente entraînant l’application de régimes hétérogènes qui offrent d'inégales garanties. Les praticiens sont donc confrontés à une grande complexité qui favorise l’opacité et facilite certaines dérives. En ce sens cette étude vise à identifier les instruments par lesquels le droit intervient sur le fonctionnement global du secteur de la microfinance, ce qui devrait permettre de mieux confronter la théorie juridique avec sa pratique et ainsi faciliter leur mise en cohérence. Par ailleurs, il est possible de se demander si un droit commun de la microfinance ne pourrait pas être dégagé / In Cameroon, Microfinance is now established as a strong element able to improve offers and access to banking services to some part of the society often excluded. That is why the Community legislature of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) had decided to make a special legal regime to allow this new technique of funding to settle and grow while ensuring the reliability of actors and operation’s control. Regarding the economical aspect, the Cameroon’s government had positioned microfinance as a major tool able to work for the integration of the alleged informal economy to formal economy. However, it is now accepted that the economy will not function without a specific economic law. This economic law with the apprehension that appears so necessary has been converted by the right to the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). Therefore, microfinance has the distinction of combining legal instruments of different nature leading to the applications of heterogeneous systems that offers unequal guarantees. The practitioners therefore face a complexity that promotes and facilitates some opacity drifts. In this sense, this study aims to identify the instruments by which the law operates in the overall functioning of the global microfinance sector, which should allow to better confront the legal theory with its practice and to facilitate their consistency. Furthermore, it is possible to consider whether a microfinance law might not be elaborated

This paper investigates the prevailing financing models that are used to finance microbusinesses in developing economies with the objective of adapting one of these models for use within the South African context. Using India, Brazil, Ghana and Kenya as case studies the current successful microfinancing models and their advantages and disadvantages in these countries are assessed. The results indicate that microleasing is a possible effective financing model that can be used to finance microbusinesses in South Africa. Furthermore, possible ways of addressing microleasing shortfalls are explored in the paper, by drawing on the suitable features of financing innovations developed in the other developing economies. Most importantly, it was also found that the government, donors and the private sector have a significant role to play in order to encourage further development of the nascent microfinance industry in South Africa.

By undertaking an in-depth case study in Yi County where the first microfinance program was launched in 1993, this dissertation investigates how microfinance was adopted and adapted in China through four chronologically established microfinance programs: microfinance NGOs, microfinance programs housed within national subsidized poverty alleviation loans, rural credit cooperatives microfinance programs, and commercial microfinance companies. Inspired by but distinct from the policy mobilities approach, this dissertation takes upon the notion of assemblage as the analytical framework under which the adoption and adaptation process can be conceived as four distinct, though overlapping assemblages that are constantly fluctuating and in (re)formation. The questions asked, therefore, are how these assemblages are constituted by heterogeneous elements, including policies, institutions, discourses, and practitioners? What are the attendant contradictions and externalities and how are they managed (or fail to be managed)? And what are the politically progressive and regressive possibilities that arise in the process? By illustrating how four microfinance assemblages in Yi County were produced, maintained, transformed and/or deteriorated, this dissertation focuses on the messy and complex processes of microfinance formations and reveals the not-always-coherent and sometimes even contradictory capacities of the elements common to all microfinance assemblages and the practices required to draw these elements together, forge connections between them, and sustain these connections it the face of such capacities.

The microcredit program in Bangladesh is a unique innovation of credit delivery designed to enhance the income generating activities of the poor. Its uniqueness is reflected in its collateral-free group-based lending strategy. The program extends small loans to poor people, mainly women, for self-employment activities thus allowing clients to achieve a better quality of life. This program is regarded as a very exciting anti-poverty tool for the poorest, especially for women. This study investigates the impact of microcredit on economic indicators as well as consumption behaviour of the borrowers. It further analyses the impact of microcredit on women’s empowerment. Primary data has been collected from the borrowers of two major microcredit institutions in Bangladesh. Alongside the borrowers, data have also been collected from non-borrowers of the same village to compare the impact between borrowers and control group. The empirical work has used sophisticated econometric techniques. Five different econometric methods - OLS, 2SLS, Probit, Tobit and SURE estimators - have been applied to the sample data of this study. The most important finding indicates that microcredit programs are effective in increasing borrowers’ income, assets and consumption but it is more pronounced towards high income borrowers than low income borrowers. It further finds that microcredit programs are empowering for women. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)