Estudo comparativo sobre o funcionamento das instituições de microfinanças em Maputo

Abstract

In Mozambique, a large number of emerging microenterprises face difficulties in developing their activities, the most glaring being the lack of access to bank credit. To cope with this limitation, part of the microentrepreneurs resort to traditional financial systems and the other part resorts to microfinance institutions that provide credit services to low-income clients, operating in various ways and not limited to credit services only. The microfinance industry has started to make itself felt in our country very recently and is evolving at a very fast pace, which makes it particularly interesting. It has received support from both the government and various donors as a poverty reduction tool through the provision of loans by authorized financial institutions to micro-entrepreneurs in both rural and urban areas. The implicit assumption behind this initiative is that easy access to credit contributes to poverty reduction; this assumption has been little tested, with the exception of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The Grameen Bank, well known for its success in the area of microcredit, has contributed little in terms of alleviating the poverty of its clients. Is this hypothesis also true for the Mozambican reality? To what extent do microfinance institutions contribute to poverty alleviation? This paper aims to answer this question by analyzing the operation of some microfinance institutions in Maputo. The work consisted of selecting a sample of four micro-finance institutions operating in Maputo, which were later questioned to analyze the procedures, facilities and criteria adopted by them in carrying out their activities. These institutions are the Mennonite Economic Development Association - MEDA, Caixa Comunitária de Crédito e Poupança - CCCP, Tchúma Cooperativa de Crédito e Poupanças, SCRL, and Sociedade de Crédito de Moçambique - SOCREMO.

(TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)