Joana Silva Afonso

• PhD Economics and Finance
• Research Associate at University of Portsmouth

This paper explores the features and consequences of heterogeneity among clients of the largest Islamic microfinance institution in Pakistan, identifying differences in business and household outcomes between sub-groups of borrowers. The research is based on a longitudinal survey of 500 new clients of the institution conducted between 2015 and 2017...

This paper investigates the impact of geographic diversification on the provision of credit during a financial crisis. We analyse in particular the microlending crisis that occurred in Nicaragua from mid-2008. We find that during the crisis, lenders reduced overall credit provision but to a lesser extent to those geographic areas that contributed m...

Although the global microfinance sector has expanded rapidly over recent years, financial exclusion remains high, particularly in many Muslim-majority countries. In this context, Islamic microfinance has emerged as a potential remedy for the religious constraints that restrict some Muslims from engaging in interest-based microfinance. However, the...

The book is a contemporary compilation of important research in the area of microfinance and financial inclusion. It explores a plurality of views and experiences from different parts of the world while linking a variety of international research backgrounds. Accordingly the book will fill a gap in providing a carefully curated cross-sectorial selec...

Akhuwat was established in 2001 in Pakistan in order to assist poor people to set up and develop their businesses by providing qard hasan or interest-free loans. It has expanded rapidly to become one of the largest Islamic microfinance organizations in the world. It has 500 branches spread throughout Pakistan with more than 567,000 active borrowers...

The Dominican Republic's microfinance sector is considered to be a solid market where over-indebtedness prevention best practices are widely and successfully implemented. Relying on qualitative data collection tools and analysis, we identify these ‘best practices’ as self-regulation mechanisms, and we show how they fail to fully fulfil their goals...

Loan officers act as the interface between microfinance institutions and clients, and as previous research has shown, they are particularly relevant in the screening and recovery phases. Given that these two stages of the credit process are considered critical in over-indebtedness prevention strategies, it is expected that credit officers have a ke...

This paper studies the relations between micro credit and territory, assuming that micro credit is an important instrument for fighting against poverty and social exclusion. Based on a micro-level database provided by ANDC (Associação Nacional de Direito ao Crédito), a statistical and econometric study has been undertaken in order to identify the t...

Microcredit and microfinance emerged in the 1970’s in Bangladesh and other developing countries and expanded rapidly worldwide as a business model financially sustainable and able to fight poverty and social exclusion. Empirical evidence confirms microcredit ability to mitigate poverty but its financial sustainability is controversial. Using 2006-2...

Micro-credit and micro-finance emerged in the 1970’s in some Asian and Latin American countries as an instrument for fighting poverty and social exclusion. Using 2006-9 portuguese micro-level data, we estimate the failure rate of Portuguese micro-credit projects as 18,4%/year. This failure rate is incompatible with a no-subsidised system that would...