The authors investigate the microfinance regulatory regimes in Benin, Ghana, and Tanzania, with a view to identifying key issues and lessons on how the overall regulatory framework affects integration of microfinance institutions into the financial system. The authors find that recognizing...

Firms have employed strategic alliances with other firms to effectively manage costs, overcome resource and technology constraints, and enhance competitive position. Strategic alliances can lead to productive institutional collaborations in rural financial markets, thereby expanding the array of...

An earlier Policy Research Working Paper (Hennie van Greuning, Joselito Gallardo, and Bikki Randhawa, "A Framework for Regulating Microfinance Institutions," WPS 2061, February 1999) presented a regulatory framework that identifies thresholds in financial intermediation activities that trigger a...

African governments place high priority on developing their indigenous private sector to participate in and lead future growth. This goal is constrained, in part, by the absence of a diversified financial sector capable of meeting the full range of the private sector's legitimate demand for...