The advocation of micro – financing was triggered by the poor performance of the conventional finance sector. The essence was to reach the overwhelming population of the poor to assist in the drive to alleviate poverty. Barely a million had been provided with some credit in Nigeria while a...

Although microfinance has played a significant role in providing a wide range of financial products and services, many microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Kenya still face major challenges with efficiently and effectively delivering microfinance services in the country. As the demand for these...

A large body of literature has shown that small firms, due to their opaqueness, may find it difficult to access the credit market. Informational asymmetries may be mitigated by posting collateral or by building relationships with lenders (relationship lending). However, in some cases, due to a...

Economic and social implications of the access to financial services both in developed and in developing countries have increasingly promoted the debate around the issue of considering “financial inclusion” as a public good, according to potential positive externalities associated to greater...

This paper endeavours to assess the viability of the FONGS FINRURAL, a nascent network of 09 rural savings and credit cooperatives in Senegal. More specifically it strives to measure first how the social and financial performance and the governance vary among the network affiliated...

This paper not only addresses how linkages, direct and facilitating linkages, can benefit microfinance institutions – and particularly in jurisdictions where the Savings Group Outreach involvement is particularly low, but also illustrates ways and means whereby group lending and other more...

This study aims to assess the microfinance institutions’ (MFIs’) efficiency in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) after the reforms that were undertaken in the industry. Given the complementary role between MFIs and banks (where MFIs reach the population that the banks...

This paper not only addresses how linkages, direct and facilitating linkages, can benefit microfinance institutions – and particularly in jurisdictions where the Savings Group Outreach involvement is particularly low, but also illustrates ways and means whereby group lending and other more...

An innovative aspect of this paper is evidenced through its recommendation of the Micro-Savings Requirement Scheme - which offers numerous benefits – as will be highlighted in this paper. Furthermore, the paper not only addresses how linkages, direct and facilitating linkages, can benefit...

This paper has been prepared on the basis of the recorded deliberations of the participants attended in the conference “Microfinance in SAARC Countries: Sharing Lessons & Way forward” organized in November-December, 2010, jointly by the Institute of Microfinance (InM), Bangladesh, and Rural...