Surveying the Socioeconomic and Business Dimensions of Microfinance Institutions in Rural Sierra Leone before the Ebola Outbreak: A Descriptive Statistical Approach

Abstract

This mixed method paper is a survey of the socioeconomic and business dimensions of Microfinance Institutions before the Sierra Leone Ebola outbreak in 2013. A descriptive statistical analysis is used to describe the results obtained from structured questionnaires administered in four districts in Sierra Leone, from 2008 to 2014. Three important dimensions were considered for baseline analysis; access to finance, financial services and products and business performance. Both stratified and simple random sampling methods were used to select the clients for the interview. Results show that before the Ebola outbreak majority of the beneficiaries of microfinance were for business activities, while others did farming and small proportion for building and construction. The quality of support provided by the institution established to channel the goals of the programme was well-delivered with an average score of 8 on the extent to which they helped create easy access to credit facilities in the areas where the programme was implemented. However, training programmes on skills and community support were not effective. Living standards of beneficiaries improved, even though it does not translate to the communities in general.