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Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Abstract

Through an exploratory approach, we studied the evolution, sustainability, and management of ten microcredit institutions located in Gossas, a small town in Senegal, Sub-Saharan Africa. Prevailing ideas about social capital, in the form of social relationships within and between microcredit institutions and financing NGOs, donors, and governments, are examined using both rational choice and Marxist social capital theories to highlight the social struggles in social capital. This study goes beyond a microcredit impact analysis by including an exploratory institutional study to examine broader social and economic changes, including the new institutional changes brought about by neoliberal reforms, the emerging roles of women in rural and urban Senegal, and their increased political savoir faire. This study concludes with recommendations on how to better leverage microcredit and social capital to fill the vacuum left by restructuring of the welfare state through structural adjustment programs and neoliberal reforms.

Biography

Jainaba M. L. Kah is a member of the faculty of the Graduate Department of Public Policy and Administration, Rutgers University-Camden, and is also the director of the International Public Service and Development Program, and is a visiting faculty member at the School of Business and Management, American University of Sharjah.; Dana L. Olds is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, who served two years in Gossas, Senegal. She is currently anemployee in the Africa region at Chemonics International Inc.; Muhammadou M. O. Kah is a member of the faculty of the School of Business Rutgers University-Camden, and is a visiting faculty member at the School of Business and Management, American University of Sharjah.

Section

Articles

Journal Title

Journal of Microfinance

Issue and Volume

7-1

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