With over 10,000 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) operating in developing economies around the world today [1], the once avant-garde industry of microcredit has expanded into a major international force for combating poverty. Yet the recent ubiquity of MFIs, coupled with a marked decline in recent years of research into the field, creates a peculiar dichotomy of uncertainty surrounding microfinance.
How much have these institutions effected palpable, sustained change in the lives of their clientele? Was microfinance doomed from its inception, or has the field simply taken a wrong turn, with nobody bothering to bring it back on course?