Joint Liability and Group Loan Performance among Micro Finance Institutions: A Case of Nyandarua County, Kenya
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Date
2018-07
Authors
Njoroge, Newton Riunge
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Group based lending has been synonymous with most borrowers of the lower economic
end in the developing world and this is no exemption to borrowers in Kenya. For a long
time low income earners had been left out and were previously unbanked. The
microfinance model through group lending has ensured inclusion of these players to the
economy. Group lending is done through self-organised groups of individuals mostly
between 5 and 20 who lack mainstream collateral but can co guarantee each other’s loans
to ensure they access funding. Group lending most dominant feature is joint liability that
involves the group members being responsible for all loans in the group and being
obligated to take action against a non-paying member or paying the loan of such a
member. Joint liability depends on sanctions that are imposed on a defaulter which
include seizure of households that may have been pledged as security, discrimination on
a non-paying member and denial of future funding. This study sought to investigate the
effects of joint liability on group loan performance for Micro Finance Institutions in
Nyandarua County, Kenya. The study was carried out using descriptive survey design.
The study relied on a population of 11 Micro Finance Institutions with operations in
Nyandarua County as gathered from the Association of Micro Finance Institutions of
Kenya (2017). The study used the census study approach to identify the micro finance
institutions to study alongside the purposive or judgemental sampling approach to
sample the target respondents. The purposive sampling procedure targeted a total of 66
respondents comprising of branch managers, credit managers, finance and investment
officers, customer care officers, operations managers and loan officers of Micro Finance
Institutions offering group lending in Nyandarua County, Kenya. The research relied on
primary data from questionnaires which highlighted various aspects of group liability
lending and performance of the group loans. Validity and reliability of the instrument
was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Test, pre-testing and expert opinion.
The study adopted the drop and pick method for data collection. Data analysis involved
use of both bivariate and multivariate analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics
were useful for the study at hand. Correlation and Regression Analysis models were the
key inferential statistical procedures in testing the research hypotheses. The study was
important in bringing out the specific group lending practises and how such practises are
impacting on the group borrowing. The group loan performance of the Micro Finance
institutions in Nyandarua County was considered fairy good with the average group
repayment of loans standing above two thirds but highlighting need to drive the
organisations towards full group loan repayment. The average growth in group loan
portfolio was also found to be fairly good although some players in the sector were not
registering attractive figures in loan portfolio growth hence need to device ways to
improve growth in loan book. On the same note, the average net profit margin stood just
slightly above the quarter mark which calls for action towards the improvement in
profitability. As demonstrated by the Coefficient of Determination or R square, more
than three quarters (75.70%)of the variation in the Group Loan Performance of MFIs
was explained by variability in the joint liability lending factors including enforcement
of social sanctions, loan monitoring, moral hazard control and adverse selection control.
The study recommends that MFIs rethink and redefine their lending strategies in order to
ensure an improvement on profitability which was found not to be very attractive.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (Finance), Kenyatta University.