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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Microfinance in Africa: Is it Either the Problem or the Solution?
Author:Buckley, GraemeISNI
Year:1997
Periodical:World Development
Volume:25
Issue:7
Period:July
Pages:1081-1093
Language:English
Geographic terms:Ghana
Kenya
Malawi
Subjects:credit
informal sector
small enterprises
Development and Technology
Economics and Trade
External link:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)00022-3
Abstract:This article seeks to provoke critical reflection on the uncritical enthusiasm that lies behind much proselytizing of microfinance for informal sector microenterprise. It is based on research on microenterprises in the informal sector undertaken in Kenya, Malawi and Ghana in 1992, 1993 and 1994, respectively. The article questions whether the extensive donor interest in microenterprise finance really addresses the problems of microentrepreneurs or whether it offers the illusion of a quick fix. It suggests that the real problems are more profound and cannot be tackled solely by capital injections but require fundamental structural changes of the socioeconomic conditions that define informal sector activity and a fuller understanding of the 'psyche' of informal sector entrepreneurs. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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