The role of Microfinance institution in Rural women empowerment in The Gambia

The Microfinance institutions in The Gambia came into been as any other microfinance institution to ease access to finance and empowerment for the poor especially the women and close the gap that exists between the rich and the poor in terms of empowerment and access to finance. This gap is allegedly believed to be created by the conventional banks who neglected or not making much effort in reaching out to poor people. The study focuses to assess the effort that microfinance institutions in The Gambia soma are doing to bridge the gap, the study concentrated on the leading microfinance institution in The Gambia called Reliance Financial Services (RFS), and its main product called women finance that concentrates on the women who are the most vulnerable to this problem. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The focus is on Reliance Financial Services’ Women Finance (WF) program in Soma, The Gambia. Data collected through in-depth interviews with 50 female loan clients and 5 loan officers from RFS, as well as through structured questionnaires to gather quantifiable insights. The qualitative component provides a detailed understanding of participants’ experiences, while the quantitative data support analysis of trends, correlations, and measurable outcomes. The research indicates that microfinance institution was successful in reducing the gap that exists between the two sexes when it comes to empowering women through access to finance. The study made the following recommendations: cutting down the interest rate, periodic training of both the officers and the groups, putting proper monitoring scheme to determine those performing and those that are not, the need to restructure the program by bringing some small changes rather than keep them the same since inception, changing the payment period and the mode of payment.