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2.0 Deposit Collection and Credit Extension: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries

Guest post by: International Monetary Fund

Article Overview: The importance of deposit collection in the development of microfinance services has arisen from the fact that the poor value both deposit and lending services

2.0 Deposit Collection and Credit Extension: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries

(IMF Working Paper, Prepared by Anupam Basu, Rodolphe Blavy, and Murat Yulek1, September 2004)

The importance of deposit collection in the development of microfinance services has arisen
from the fact that the poor value both deposit and lending services. Surveys have shown that
small entrepreneurs seeking micro financing for their projects constitute a relatively smaller subset of the poor population than the segment interested in accessing deposit services.2 The
poor value the availability of liquid and secure financial vehicles for savings for a variety of
reasons. First, such savings help poor farmers to smooth their consumption expenditures
between lean and peak harvesting seasons, and provide a cushion against income fluctuations
caused by exogenous shocks. Second, savings could be used to pay for inputs needed at the
start of production processes, and self-finance future investments or leverage supplementary
financing for them. Third, saving deposits also provide a convenient vehicle for setting aside
money for such costly future events as weddings, children’s education, and funerals.

While poor households may save in the absence of deposit services, for example in cash
hoards, by acquiring assets such as gold, or by stockpiling relatively non-perishable
commodities between harvests,3 saving services offered by MFIs have the advantage of
security and liquidity that makes them popular among the poor, especially in rural areas.
Hence, deposit collection has played a central role in the development of the microfinance
sector in many African countries. Hirschland (2003) identifies the four major criteria valued
by households concerned with savings mobilization as access, security, liquidity, and returns.
As described in Box 1, the expansion of MFI services and outreach has been supported by a
parallel expansion in deposit collection. To achieve such performance, MFIs have provided
the means for overcoming three main barriers to the use of the deposit facilities commonly
offered by banks (as identified by the World Bank, 1997): (i) high opening and minimum
account balances, (ii) high travel time and transport costs involved in making deposits and
withdrawals at the bank branch, and (iii) lack of familiarity with bank branch operations and
procedures.

Related Articles
  1.0 Introduction: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
  II. How Can MicroFinance Succeed In Africa?
  IV Module I Key Principles for an African Model of Microfinance
  III. BACKGROUND - Microfinance in Africa
  4.0 The Role of Governments: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries

Article Tags: Anupam Basu Rodolphe Blavy, deposit collection, deposit services, microfinance



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