Success of Microfinance Institutions: The Ghanaian Experience

[a] Faculty of Accounting Finance， University of Professional Studies， Accra. P. O. Box LG 149， Legon， Accra， Ghana.

*Corresponding author.

Received 7 February 2013； accepted 13 April 2013

Abstract

Success in microfinance refers to measures which when adopted will significantly improve the life and operations of the institutions though many authors have different views on what constitute success. The following imperatives have been used to scan success of microfinance institutions （MFIs）： acquiring more clients， effective and efficient loan processing， effective record keeping， increased savings， external and internal audits， level of staff remuneration and staff turnover rate. The research was based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. First， interviews were held with selected CEOs from all the categories of MFIs in Ghana. This was followed by self-administered survey involving 130 microfinance institutions. The results indicated that all the perceived factors were significant in determining the success of MFIs.

Key words： Success； Microfinance； Sustainability； Remuneration

INTRODUCTION

In Ghana， the financial liberalization policies of the 1980’s coupled with a relaxed regulatory environment for microfinance resulted in tremendous growth and spread of microfinance institutions （Steel Andah， 2003）. Aryeetey Gockel （1991）， show that microfinance institutions are pivotal as far as credit for development is concerned. However， the question being asked is the extent to which these MFIs are successful in their operations， in other words， the critical success factors which when adopted will ensure that they remain sustainable. The sustainability of microfinance institutions therefore hinges on an effective management of these factors. This study provides a focus on how microfinance institutions are employing these success factors and how they impact on their performance and eventual sustainability. According to Ledgerwood （2006， pp3） MFIs must understand that successful mobilization of savings from the public， including low-income people changes the institution profoundly and irreversibly.

1. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study is to examine the extent to which success factors affect sustainability of Microfinance institutions in Ghana. In specifics， the study measures success of MFIs in terms of seven variables： growth of clients， loan processing periods， clients record tracking and tracking mechanisms， discount for prompt repayment， saving schemes， internal and external audit systems， staff remuneration and turnover.

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Success in microfinance refers to measures which， when adopted will significantly improve the life and operations of the institution. Many authors have different opinions on what constitutes success. Yaron （1994）， Jain （1996）， and Sharma et al. （1997） are of the view that the success of Grameen Bank and MFIs in general lies in the adoption of strategic credit policies. Some authors see institutional development， that is engaging in activities that on the surface are not directly linked to the first duty of credit allocation such as training of clients in entrepreneurial development skills and social development have also been found to make MFIs a success.

Again， Sharma and Zeller （1997）， Navajas et al.（2000） have generally agreed to most or all of these factors as being very effective in determining the success or otherwise of MFIs. And for this reason， four microfinance institutions， Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperative （BAAC） in Thailand， Badan Kredit Kecamatan （BKK） and Bank Rakyat Indonesia Unit Desa （BUD） both in Indonesia and Grameen Bank （BK） in Bangladesh were classified as very successful in the early 1990s. An important phenomenon that characterized these institutions were； the number of clientele they had， time taken to process a loan for a client， record keeping， savings mobilized/discounts given to clients， internal/external audit， staff remuneration， staff turnover and performance.

2.1 Which Success Factors Significantly Impact on Operations of MFIs？

In measuring the degree of success of MFIs， theorists have settled on seven main factors including number of clients of the MFI， how effective they process loans for their client， record keeping， savings/discount offers to clients， auditing， staff remuneration and staff turnover. Consequently， we put forward seven hypotheses which were tested to draw conclusion on each variable measured.

2.2 Number of Clients and Success of MFIs

According to Zeller and Meyer （2002）， when the microfinance movement started， the focus was on improving the outreach of microfinance institutions to the poor， that is on serving more of the poor （breadth of outreach） and more of the poorest of the poor （depth of outreach）. It is believed that the more clients that an MFI has the more sustainable it will be， since they will take more loans which will translate into more on-lending interest to be earned by the MFI.

We therefore put forward the hypothesis that：

H1： If the MFI’s acquire more new clients， then success will significantly increase.

2.3 Loan Processing and Success of MFIs

How long an MFI takes to process loans for its clients is very important and has a bearing on efficiency and effectiveness and confidence that clients ultimately will have in the institution. Again， the number of officers who would be involved in the operation from the beginning to the time of the loan disbursement affects the success of the institution， but to what extent？

The hypothesis is：

H2： If loan processing is efficiently and effectively managed， then success of MFIs will increase.

2.4 Record Keeping and Success of MFIs Keeping records of clients， which enables the MFIs to monitor them effectively is clearly very important and central to the achievement of success. This will ultimately impact on the rate of loan defaulting as it will be seen from the records. What is not known is the degree to which record keeping affects the operations of MFIs.

The hypothesis is：

H 3： If record keeping is effective， then success of MFIs increases.

2.5 Savings/Discounts and Success of MFIs

According to Zeller and Meyer （2002）， some microfinance institutions require their clients to show good faith by accumulating savings before seeking a loan， whereas others entirely neglect the importance of savings for the poor. The famous Grameen Bank created savings accounts for all its customers with a fixed fraction of the loan disbursed and funds in those accounts could only be withdrawn upon leaving the programme. In principle， the compulsory savings programme was meant to help clients build up assets over time and develop the discipline of savings （Armendariz de Aghion Morduch， 2005）. However， many authors see these involuntary savings accounts as a way for the banks and the institutions to acquire relatively cheap capital and to secure a form of collateral from borrowers. Some MFIs give discounts to clients for early repayments and some do not. From the foregoing the question to ask is to what extent is savings/ discounts critical to the operations of MFIs？

The hypothesis posed is：

H4： If savings increase in MFIs， then success will also increase significantly.

2.6 Internal/External Audits and Success of MFIs The institution of internal and external audits ensures that the laid down rules of the organization are adhered to with the ultimate result that the organization becomes profitable. In microfinance， sustainability and success can be linked to how effective and efficient the internal and external audit function is. What is unknown is the extent to which this function impacts on MFIs.

The hypothesis is：

H5： If the internal and external audit divisions function properly， then success will increase.

2.7 Staff Remuneration and success of MFIs

During the exploratory research， one Chief Executive remarked “In terms of salaries， I can say that we are not the best within the industry， nor are the worst. We complement the remunerations with good training for our staff but this also adversely affects us ultimately. Our staff members are constantly being poached by other big firms with very attractive offers. You know our operations to a large extent depends on our staff ”.

The hypothesis is：

H6： If staff remuneration is high， then success will increase.

2.8 Staff Turnover/Performance

A high staff turnover may be indicative of staff dissatisfaction with their conditions of service and the contrary would hold true for low turnover. How does this impact on success of MFIs？

The hypothesis is：

H7： If staff turnover is low， then success will also increase.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research was based on both the qualitative and quantitative approaches. A two stage approach was used. Interviews and self- administered surveys were employed involving 130 microfinance institutions.

3.1 Data Source

Data for this study were collected from two sources； the financial reports （secondary） and structured questionnaires and interviews （primary） to elicit information on these success factors.

3.2 Sampling Frame and Sample Size

The sampling frame included managing directors/ financial managers from microfinance institutions in seven out of the ten regions of Ghana； Greater Accra， Eastern， Central， Western， Ashanti， Northern and Volta regions. A sampling frame consists of all potential elements and respondents that are intended to be sampled （Churchill Iacobucci， 2002）.

3.3 Sampling Procedure

The method for defining and creating the most appropriate sampling technique is a significant part of the research design （Lehmann， Gupta Steckel， 1998）. As one of the objectives of this research was to describe the factors that success of MFIs， it was determined that the most appropriate sampling method to utilize was a ‘two phased’stratified random sampling technique （Churchill， 2000）. The stratum development began by assessing the regional distribution. From there the microfinance institutions located in the regions were determined. The next stage involved the aggregation of coverage by examining the regions with the high number of MFIs. The selection of Greater Accra， Central， Western， Eastern， Ashanti， Northern and Volta regions gave 130 MFIs， representing 74.4%. The importance of achieving a high coverage is to ensure that the intensity of activities is captured to allow for the creation of a proportionate representation of the population within the research （Henry 1990； FrankfortNachimias Nachimias， 1996）. Limiting the coverage to all except Upper East， Upper West and Brong Ahafo was equally influenced by time and limited financial resources available for this research.

A greater heterogeneity is required to allow for group analysis which also called for bigger sample size. A nonresponse rate is generally high for researches in LDCs， it was therefore considered prudent to have larger sample size to ensure that adequate number of responses is obtained for effective analysis （see Table 1）.

3.4 Data Collection Method

Face to face interview method was mostly used. Respondents were first called by phone and briefed about the research. Their consent was sought for their participation and the face to face interviews conducted. There were instances where respondents though agreed to complete questionnaires， reneged. The face to face interview was not only expected to yield the highest response rate but also to ensure that the appropriate personnel answered the questionnaires.

3.5 Data Analysis

A two-stage approach was used in analyzing the data for the study. The first stage where success was measured at the nominal level （yes=1， and no=0） which led to the use of the logistic regression and the chi-square test. The second stage was where success was measured by attaching values to the responses of selected variables that related to Institutional characteristics. The scores were then aggregated to produce interval level variable leading to the use of ANOVA and MANOVA.

4. RESULTS

4.1 Hypotheses testing on impact of MFI’s Successes

Jain （1996） is of the view that the success of Grameen Bank and MFIs in general lies in the adoption of such policies which he terms “strategic credit policies”. Yaron（1994）， Khandker and Khan （1995）， Schreiner and Yaron（1999） have further gone ahead to define success as economic sustainability and institutional viability as a means of measuring the success of MFIs. The construct for success of the MFI’s include client growth， effective and efficient loan processing， good record keeping， increased savings by clients， availability of proper internal and external auditing systems， high staff remuneration， and low staff labor turnover. In an attempt to determine how these factors impact on the success of MFI’s seven hypotheses were postulated and tested.

It can be observed that whilst the majority （71.9%） of the MFI’s who processed clients loans promptly were perceived as successful， those of the MFI’s who delay in processing clients loan were perceived as less successful. The chi-square test yielded （X2=21.01， df=4， p<0.011）. This means that there was a significant relationship between loan processing period of the MFI and the perceived level of success of the MFI. Thus， those MFI’s who processed clients loans promptly were perceived to be successful. Therefore at the 0.05 level， the hypothesis that if loan processing is effectively and efficiently managed， then success of MFI’s will increase significantly was supported.

4.3 Loan Processing and Success of MFI

Prompt loan processing induces confidence in client about the institution. This however， depends on a host of factors including the quality of information provided by clients for the purpose of conducting background checks， and the number of loan officers involved in the processing of documents and the time of receipt of clients request to the time of disbursement of the loan to the clients. In order to ascertain how the loan processing systems impact on the success of the MFI’s， it was hypothesized that：

H2： If loan processing is effectively and efficiently managed， then success of MFI’s will increase.

The results in Table 2 show the relationship between the loan processing period of the MFI and the perceived level of success of the MFI.

The results in Table 4 show the level of success of the MFI’s as against the operation of savings scheme. It can be observed that 33 （78.9%） of the MFI’s operated saving schemes and those who believe that it would impact on their businesses as against 9 （21.4%） who did not think deposit taking had any success effect on their operations. The test results， that is （X2 =21.12， df=1 and p<0.012）， indicates a significant relationship between availability of saving scheme and level of success of MFI. Therefore at the 95% significance level the hypothesis that if savings increase in MFI’s， then success of MFI’s will also increase significantly was supported.

The results in Table 5 show that the perceived level of success of the MFI’s was dependent on the availability of properly functioning audit units. That is the MFI’s with properly functioning audit units were perceived to be successful （96.5%） than those who were without. （3.5%） of these， were mostly the Susu institutions. The test results was X2=20.05， df=1 and p<0.00， which means that at the 95% significance level the hypothesis that if the internal and external audit divisions function properly， then the success of the MFI’s will increase was supported.

4.6 Audit Systems and Success of MFIs

Evidence of internal and external financial audit system was used as a precursor to audits which ensures that the laid down rules of the organization are adhered to with the ultimate result that the organization becomes profitable. Given that the availability of the internal and external audits is indicative of a properly functioning system， it was hypothesized that：

H5： If the internal and external audit divisions function properly， then success of MFI’s will increase.

4.7 Staff Remuneration and Success of MFI

Motivation in the form of salary， no doubt has great impact on employee job satisfaction and performance. It is thus obvious that when there is salary differentials within a particular industry， poaching will be high and employees in organizations with low remuneration will be most attracted to those institutions with higher remuneration. To ascertain if the success of the MFI’s was dependent on the staff remuneration， it was hypothesized that：

H6： If staff remuneration is high， then success of MFI’s will increase.

The result of the study revealed that success of the MFI’s depended on some factors. In all instances the success was found to be dependent on client growth， loan processing period， good record keeping， savings， effective functioning of audit systems， staff remuneration and staff turnover. Therefore， in an attempt to improve the success of MFIs in Ghana， managements of MFIs should put in strategies that will focus on enhancing the significance of these variables in their institutions. For example， MFIs should concentrate on winning more clients to the scheme through effective outreach programmes and promotions in a bid to increase clientele. They should also put in strategies that will fast track loan processing and at the same time ensuring strict adherence to credit policies and checks. Human resources strategies also need to be strengthened to improve remuneration and to reduce labor turnover in their institutions.

REFERENCES

Andah， D.O， Steel， W. F. （2003）. Rural and Micro Finance Regulation in Ghana-Implications for Development and Performance of the Industry. Africa Region Working Paper Series Number 49. The World Bank.

Armendariz de Aghion， B. Morduch， J. （2005）. The Economics of Microfinance. Massachusetts Institute of Technology， MIT， Cambridge.

Aryeetey， E. （1992）. The Relationship Between the Formal and Informal Sectors of the Financial Market in Ghana. AERC Research Paper 10. Retrieved from http// www.aercafrica. org/documents/RP10.pdf

Aryeetey， E. Gockel， F. （1991）. Mobilizing Domestic Resources for Capital Formation in Ghana-The Role of the Informal Financial Sector. AERC Research Paper 3. Retrieved from http// www.aercafrica.org/documents/RP3.pdf

Frankfort-Nachmias， C.， Nachmias， D. （1996）. Research Methods in Social Sciences （5th Edition）. New York： St. Martin’s Press.

Khandker， S. R.， Khalily， B.， Khan， Z. （1995）. Grameen Bank： Performance and Sustainability. World Bank Discussion Paper， No. 306， Washington， DC.

Jain， P. S. （1996）. Managing Credit for the Rural Poor： Lessons from the Grameen Bank. World Development， 24（1）， 79-89.

Schreiner， M.， Yaron， J. （1999）. Development Finance Institutions： Measuring Their Subsidy. Microfinance Risk Management and Centre for Sustainable Development， Washington D.C. USA.

Sharma， M.， Zeller， M. （1997）. Repayment Performance in Grouped-Based Credit Programmes in Bangladesh： An Empirical Analysis. World Development， 25（10）， 1731-1742.

Yaron， J. （1992）. Assessing Development Finance Institutions： A Public Interest Analysis. Policy Research Working Paper No. 174. Washington， D.C： World Bank.

Zeller， M.， Meyer， R. L. （2002）. The Triangle of MicrofinanceFinancial Sustainability， Outreach and Impact. John Hopkins University Press， Baltimore and London 267.