Founded on the assumption that poor people are “natural entrepreneurs” (Bornstein 2005), microfinance has signaled a paradigm shift in development ideology. Using my experiences with microfinance in a fishing village in Senegal, this study will address the claims driving the microfinance movement, debate its pros and cons and pose further questions about its validity and widespread implementati...

It is a challenge for the poor to overcome the barriers to accessing health services. Membership-based microfinance with associated health programmes can improve health outcomes for the poor. This study reviewed the evidence published between 1993 and 2013 on the role of membership-based microfinance with associated health programmes in improving health outcomes for the poor in South Asia. A to...

According to the United Nations (UN), in 2002 almost one-fifth of the world population (i e, 1.3 billion people) was living in extreme poverty, earning less than one dollar a day. In recent public debates microfinance has been mentioned as an important instrument to combat poverty. Therefore, microfinance has received a lot of attention, both from policy-makers as well as in academic circles. E...

Microfinance has proven to financial institutions (i.e. banks) that the services they provide to their “traditional” clients can also be offered to poor and low-income entrepreneurs and clients, in a sustainable and viable manner. These institutions have seen that reaching out to the majority of the country’s population, which is the low-income market, does not necessarily mean a losing proposi...

The paper briefly described the operational mechanism innovation of key Microfinance Service Providers (MSPs) in Bangladesh. Grameen Bank has chosen to examine the approaches of microfinance. Grameen Bank is dominating microfinance market in Bangladesh in outreach, outstanding loans, savings, and efficient selected delivery mechanism. They offer micro-credit, savings and social services to the ...

Microfinance has become a popular part of poverty reduction agendas since its inception roughly 30 years ago. Despite dramatic growth, however, many microfinance institutions face low penetration rates. It turns out many potential borrowers choose not to participate. Current explanations for this phenomenon largely focus on skill, arguing that high skill entrepreneurs generate expected returns ...

Microfinance has been a topic of much interest recently, in particular the question of whether microfinance institutions can help poor clients while remaining financially sustainable. Recent research has fed hope that they can, suggesting that microfinance institutions are financially resilient to downturns in the domestic marketplace. Not only does this suggest that microfinance institutions m...

The Nobel Prize committee awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.” The microfinance revolution has come a long way since Yunus first provided financing to the poor in Bangladesh. The committee has recognized microfinance as “an important liberating force” and an “ever more important instru...

This study aimed at providing full coverage on the impact of microfinance Bank on poverty Alleviation in Nigeria. Microcredit firms provides small loans to poor people and small enterprises. This study provides an overview of the role and performance of micro finance in Nigeria. The major objective of the study is to examine the microfinance sector their performance and its impact on different ...

Few ideas have been so celebrated or been capable of generating such high and broad worldwide expectations like microfinance. The aim of this essay is to critically sketch the current mainstream microfinance movement and to shed light on its broken promises and emerging contradictions. The paper claims that modern microfinance could increase its internal as well as external sustainability as a ...