Co-operation or competition? Microfinance development in Southern Africa
Reinke, Jens / 2000

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) began as community-based savings and credit organisations: working practices were defined by local needs. What has changed? Microfinance now focuses on financial sustainability and some MFIs have become banks - of a sort. Others have developed cooperative linkages with commercial banks. What are the long-term implications of these changes? Research by the London School of Economics considers this question drawing on practice in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ghana, and Mozambique. The study is cautious about the long-term potential advantages of these linkages and examines the issues surrounding the mainstreaming of microfinance in Southern Africa.