Internet-facilitated microfinance : observations from Uganda

Abstract

A study of microfinance models in Uganda showed that internet-facilitated microfinance is another way of sourcing funds for borrowers and is complementary to other models operating in the community, but does not provide the additional services that a community model responsive to its market would. It showed that the decisions that people make about where to source microfinance and what options are available to them are influenced by the social relationships that surround them, rather than any sense of loyalty to one provider. Internet-facilitated microfinance has been difficult to start and maintain because of the uniqueness of the model and the requirements of the international service provider who operates a supply driven model. The fieldwork for the thesis took place in Uganda in August and September 2007, interviewing organisations that were in the business of microfinance or who carried out related services for the microfinance industry, and studying the community in which microfinance operates. The aim was to discover what the Ugandan experience suggests about the integration of internet-facilitated microfinance into existing practices.