Microfinance and its implications on Women empowerment: A case of Bulawayo Restaurants in Zimbabwe.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue V, May 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Microfinance and its implications on Women empowerment: A case of Bulawayo Restaurants in Zimbabwe.

Dr Barbara Mbuyisa
Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe

Abstract: Microfinance is a developmental tool which has proved to be effective in poverty alleviation, economic development and women empowerment although it has insufficiently penetrated the poor strata of the society at a global perspective. Literature on MFIs has been examined extensively over the past 15 years because there are controversial issues surrounding the benefits inherent to its implementation. The study seeks to examine the impact of MFIs on the empowerment of women who run restaurants in the city of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. A qualitative research design was used to ascertain the perceptions, beliefs and behavior of women towards the adoption of MFI as a tool for women empowerment. Purposive sampling was used to select 30 participants who run Restaurants in Bulawayo. The study concluded that lack of access to finance by women is a result of series of challenges experienced by MFIs such as inadequate capital and poor market outreach that need to be addressed by the government and regulatory authorities.

I. BACKGROUND

The literature acknowledges the work of Muhhamed Yunus, the founder of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bangladesh by pointing out that although the field of microfinance is fairly new; it has received attention from academics and policy makers because of its meaningful contribution to society (Robinson, 2001; Hermes & Lensink, 2007). This attribution paves the way to the global proliferation of MFIs interventions in many developing countries such as Bolivia, India, and Indonesia and eventually to Zimbabwe. Researchers such as Robinson (2001); Hermes & Linsenk (2007) and Adams & Raymond (2008) argue that interventions by MFIs gained their dominance in the 1970s. Most proponents of MFIs interventions acknowledge that Muhhamed Yunus conceived and founded the Grameen Bank which is a credit facility in 1976 with the objective of addressing developmental issues such as gender equality, poverty alleviation, and women empowerment, effective and efficient distribution of resources to enhance self-based projects. Their argument is that Yunus was so innovative to an extent that he created loan circles/ revolving loans targeting at most five women, to ensure there are high repayment rates and the group is able to sustain its creditworthiness. It was Yunus’ belief that credit received will be collaterised by a group guarantee instead of tangible collateral. However, Helmes (2006) and Mago (2013), argue that MFI interventions did not originate from Bangladesh. Mago’s argument is that Yunus only revived microfinance as these interventions had already been implemented in Europe during

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