Browsing by Author "Chale, Barry Dismas"

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    Assessment of the micro finance institutions contribution to the empowerment of SMEs in Tanzania: the case of Standard Chartered Bank- SME banking
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2009) Chale, Barry Dismas
    The study assessed the performance of microfinance institution in Tanzania from different angles. It looks on the MFI outreach, financial sustainability and identifies challenges faced by the MFIs in their operations specifically as related to empowering of SMEs. Both qualitative and quantitative research design were used. Two categories of respondents namely internal (senior management officials and the supporting staff) and bank clients were covered. To choose respondents to be included in the study, two sampling techniques were employed. Purposive sampling was employed to cover the senior management officials while simple random sampling was employed to cover the supporting staff and bank clients. To a large extent, SCBT-SME banking’s operations in Tanzania has brought about positive changes in the standard of living of people who access their services. Although some of the clients have not benefited, most SCBT SME Banking clients have benefited positively. Despite the achievements of SCBT SME banking clients, most of them complained that the interest rates charged were very high. The findings reveal that the process of application for loan starts with small amount and after repayment the client can apply for next higher amount. This process was observed to be a limiting factors for those customers who needed a large amount right from the beginning. The surveyed clients attended a pre-lending programme, but it was further observed that the training was provided by loan officers who were not expects or practitioners in the area of small business. Clients also mentioned that, the required weekly reporting to the MFIs office was very high ( i.e. one day in every week where they spend almost the whole day). The consumed a lot of productive time and hence reduced the time they could concentrate on other productive activities. Several recommendations were forwarded including lowering interest rates changed, increasing grace period, restructuring training contents to include improving their client’s business skills and flexibility in raising the minimum base to reflect change in value of money overtime.