Distribution, Growth, and Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
In 1999, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) team on microfinance conducted a survey of MFIs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This study builds on that work and gives a detailed analysis of the distribution, growth, and performance of MFIs supported by donor organizations.
Questions related to poverty outreach and indicators of financial sustainability are analyzed for all the institutions of the sample by type of institution, lending technology and legal status, and by geographic location. The results give some additional information and benchmarks for the purpose of making analytical comparisons for the MFI sector in the developing world as a whole. It builds on previous assessments that sought to provide information about the number and size of MFIs in the developing world. Results show:
- MFIs provide extensive coverage of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and have adopted a wide range of innovations to overcome various constraints;
- Unstable countries are still out of reach of the international world of microfinance;
- Southeast Asia, Latin America, and East and West Africa receive most of the international support and account for the majority of the clients and volumes involved in microfinance;
- Overall MFIs reach 54 million members, who have received USD 18 billion in loans and accumulated USD 13 billion in savings;
- Cooperatives are responsible for the largest proportion of the credit volume and savings transactions and solidarity groups have a very active policy in terms of number of borrowers;
- Village bank and linkage models record higher staff productivity and achieve better depth of outreach than other MFIs;
- More households in developing countries as currently reached are likely to benefit from future growth of the MFI sector.
