Microfinance services and economic development of people in Wakiso district; Case study: Munaku Kaama Kisubi SACCO, Katabi Sub-County

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Microfinance services and the Economic development of people in Wakiso district: a case study of Munaku Kaama Kisubi Sacco, Katabi sub-county. The study covered the period 2010 to 2015. The three objectives of this study were; to assess the effect of loan access, to analyze the effect of the availability of micro-saving services and to evaluate the effect of non-financial services on the economic development of people. The researcher employed the case study research design, quantitative approach, and questionnaires were used to collect data and SPSS software was applied for analysis. The findings on the microfinance services on the economic development of people showed that, accessibility of micro loan services creates opportunities for self-employment, enables investments, provides the needed capital to help clients expand their businesses, enables the acquisition of assets, protection against risks and increase in income and helps in gaining of financial security. On the availability of micro-saving services the findings indicated that clients secure their finances, reduces the risks of keeping cash, helps poor people who cannot save with commercial banks, accumulation of capital resource for investment, act as security in acquiring and repayment of loans, increase clients’ capital resources, and helps people to have a systematic saving culture. Non-financial services have enabled clients to acquire intensive education, capacity building and training, acquiring business related knowledge and saving skills, ensured good practice of preventive and curing health measures for healthy wellbeing, gaining knowledge to help them increase agricultural production, efficiency in management of cost of operation, better skills on leadership and public speaking, planning the loan re-payment and learning how to get out of poverty, illiteracy and disease. The researcher recommended that microfinance institutions should ease loan access to the people, ensure that there is availability of micro-saving services and they should also provide other non-financial services as they lead to economic development of the people as findings revealed.