Accounting for microfinance failure: insights from Zambia

Siwale, Juliana; Ritchie, J. W. K.

doi:10.1504/ijca.2013.059017

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Regulating microfinance has brought with it change in legal status and ownership, and also opened new sources of funding. Prior to regulation and while most MFIs operated as NGOs, funding came primarily from government subsidies and donor grants that allowed MFIs to multiply and grow quickly (Fehr and Hishigsuren ; Siwale and Ritchie ). The new legal status of most MFIs precludes them from accessing such funds.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The transformation process saw some of the large developmental MFIs acquire deposit taking licenses and as a consequence begin mobilizing voluntary savings. With easy entry barriers of 2006 Act, the sector now includes several salary‐based lenders with significantly higher numbers of borrowers and account for 92 per cent of the microfinance sector's total assets (Siwale and Ritchie ; Brouwers et al. ).…”

Section: The Microfinance Landscapes Of Nigeria and Zambiamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Microfinance Regulation and Social Sustainability of Microfinance Institutions: The Case of Nigeria and Zambia

Siwale

Okoye

2017

Ann Public Coop Econ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study examines the effect of regulations on microfinance institutions in Nigeria and Zambia by focusing on the post-regulation experiences and reflections of the microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their regulators. Based on in-depthinterviews with the Central Banks as regulators, MFI managers, practitioners and apex microfinance associations, the study finds that regulations in both countries have managed to professionalize the sector, but their effectiveness in augmenting the centrality of social goals to microfinance and MFIs remains doubtful. The poorly designed regulations are not only undermining social goals but also sending wrong signals to would be social investors, with implications for the social image of the industry. The study further finds that regulations have neither speeded the emergence of sustainable MFIs (especially in Zambia) nor accelerated the sectors' outreach to the poor and the financially excluded. Additionally, considerable levels of political interference and poor regulation have led to unintended consequences to the sector, further frustrating the ultimate goal of extending financial services to the poor. These findings have policy and practical implications for how microfinance engages with the regulatory logic and continues to serve those at the bottom of the pyramid.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Microfinance Landscapes Of Nigeria and Zambiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfinance Regulation and Social Sustainability of Microfinance Institutions: The Case of Nigeria and Zambia

Siwale

Okoye

2017

Ann Public Coop Econ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although prior research has demonstrated a close link between the regulatory context and MFI behaviour (Cull et al, 2011;Cull, et al, 2015), the dynamics of the regulatory story and their unintended consequences are rarely told. Therefore, we contribute to discussion in the literature concerning microfinance and failure (Siwale & Ritchie, 2013). Despite scholars identifying some of the institutional crises and threats facing MFIs these tend to be either in negotiated contested spaces or outside of the control of any actor involved in the sector (Khavul et al, 2013;Silva & Chávez 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Relative to other countries like Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, Zambia cannot boast of significant players in the developmental microfinance space and therefore affecting its ability to support micro entrepreneurial activities. Despite the progress with the microfinance regulatory framework, Zambia presents a difficult terrain for microfinance development purposes and growth of the sector (especially the developmental subsector) has been inhibited by many factors (Siwale & Ritchie, 2013), including the capping of lending interest rates introduced in 2013.…”

Section: Empirical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Secondly, we contribute to the literature on institutional entrepreneurship by moving away from previous studies which typically portray the successful institutional shaping activities of MFIs (e.g. Mair & Marti, 2009), instead offering a more holistic picture of contested institutional change through discourse (Siwale & Ritchie, 2013). Thirdly, we contribute towards an ongoing discussion within the literature concerning how institutional conditions shape the activity of microfinance institutions (Kimmitt & Munoz, 2017;Chliova et al, 2015) and on their orientation towards economic and/or social development logics (Khavul et al, 2013;Shahriar, Schwarz & Newman, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The discourse of institutional change in the Zambian microfinance sector

Siwale

Kimmitt

2019

Africa Journal of Management

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper investigates the discourse of key actors instigating institutional change in the Zambian microfinance sector. It draws from the institutional story of Zambia, which has experienced regulatory and legislative flux since drafting its first microfinance act in 2006. Building on the ideas of discursive institutionalism and interviews with key stakeholders, it identifies three levels of discourse (ideas) that explain institutional change: policy, programmatic and philosophical. It highlights how ill-conceived discourse at a policy level shapes practices of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and ultimately challenge their worldviews; offering a cautious tale of institutional change in Zambia. More broadly, it discusses the implications of using discourse to understand institutional change in Sub-Saharan Africa and offers an opposing cautious narrative to many of the successful microfinance stories in the continent which tend to dominate the literature.

show abstract