(a) Using the 8 questions in page 75 of your text book but start reading from page 71 under the heading of - Determining what to research, and stop at the 8 questions. , propose a research topic and Justify it choice.
Proposed Research Topic: The Role and Impact of Microfinance Institutions on Ghana’s Economy.
Topic Area: The topic is on Microfinance and the Impact It has on Ghana’s Economy.
Microfinance is often defined as financial services for poor and low-income clients offered by different types of service providers.
Microfinance encompasses the provision of financial services and the management of small amounts of money through a range of products and a system of intermediary functions that are targeted at low income clients.
It includes loans, savings, insurance, transfer services and other financial products and services.
The concept of microfinance is not new in Ghana. There has always been the tradition of people saving and/or taking small loans from individuals and groups within the context of self-help to start businesses or farming ventures.
For example, available evidence suggests that the first credit union in Africa was established in Northern Ghana in 1955 by Canadian Catholic Missionaries. However, ‘Susu’, which is one of the microfinance schemes in Ghana, is thought to have originated from Nigeria and spread to Ghana in the early twentieth century.
Over the years, the microfinance sector has thrived and evolved into its current state thanks to various financial sector policies and programmes undertaken by different governments since independence, 1957. Among these are:
• Provision of subsidized credits in the 1950s;
• Establishment of the Agricultural Development Bank in 1965 specifically to address the financial needs of the fisheries and agricultural sector;
• Establishment of Rural and Community Banks