A macro-level analysis of the economic and social impact of microfinance in sub-Saharan Africa

Despite a few decades of research on the topic, the economic and social impact of microfinance remains open to question. While in some cases microfinance has had the desired results, in many others it has not lived up to the expectations of the development community. In addition, macro-level effects of microfinance have not been analyzed thoroughly and there are only a limited number of empirical cross-national studies on the relationship between microfinance and development. Through a quantitative macro-level approach on the topic, our research investigates the role of microfinance in economic and social development in sub-Saharan Africa. Employing a sample of nearly 40 sub-Saharan African countries from 1999 to 2014, we find robust empirical evidence for a positive, albeit relatively weak, overall effect of microfinance on GDP/capita and human capital