Microfinance in Ghana: An Exploratory Case Study

This article presents the findings from a 5-week exploratory research project on micro-finance in Ghana. The aim of this project was to develop initial hypotheses that can be tested in a follow-up systematic research project. Our preliminary findings are that informality is a major roadblock to successful lending; that lenders redirect loans to other, non-explicit needs and wants thus indicating a different set of priorities than the lenders; and that the most successful component of microfinance is not lending, but saving. We also found that gender and religion constitute important factors interfering with and potentially distorting successful microfinance practices.