A Baseline Study of Ghanian Microfinance Institutions

We conducted a baseline study of the historical performance of 34 rural and community banks (RCBs), 27 credit unions (CUs), and 2 savings and loans companies (S&Ls), which are licensed microfinance institutions in Ghana, for future comparisons. The study also investigated their potential for long-term survival. The RCBs and CUs were drawn from five political administrative regions. We found that RCBs and CUs have done reasonably well. Regional differences, however, exist in the performance of both RCBs and CUs, and there are significant differences in performance of RCBs vis-à-vis CUs. Both have good potential for long-term survival, but CU appears to be better positioned. We identified disparate levels of performance and future potential between the two S&Ls studied.