setting the future research agenda for islamic microfinance: establishing the evidence base for...
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Setting the Future Research Agenda for Islamic microfinance: Establishing the Evidence Base for Impact and Sustainability. D r Mohammed Kroessin Global Microfinance Advisor ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE. Islamic microfinance research. Agenda Why research? An emerging research agenda - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Setting the Future Research Agenda for Islamic microfinance: Establishing the
Evidence Base for Impact and Sustainability
Dr Mohammed KroessinGlobal Microfinance Advisor
ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE
Islamic microfinance research
Agenda• Why research?• An emerging research agenda• How can IMFIs drive research?• The way forward
Islamic microfinance research
Why research?
- What is research?- Academic / IF fiqh- Market research- R&D / product development
- Knowledge generation- Pure knowledge: academia- Applied knowledge: product development
Islamic microfinance research
An emerging research agenda• What do we know:
– I-MF in academia: very little interest in I-MF (Habib Ahmed)
– I-MF R&D: some internal product development & innovation (Grameen-Jameel etc.)
– I-MF market research: slowly emerging (IRTI, Kuwait Finance House, CGAP etc.)
Islamic microfinance research
An emerging research agenda• Knowledge gaps (what don’t we
know)
Sustainability -
Outreach / impact
Islamic microfinance research
An emerging research agenda• Significance of knowledge gaps:
“Sustainability”
Islamic microfinance research
An emerging research agenda• Significance of knowledge gaps:
“Sustainability in the I-MF context”– Social
• non exploitative financing modes• Ethical vs. Sharia complaint
– Environmental• Renewable resources (energy, raw materials, pollution)
– Economic• Financial viability
Islamic microfinance research
An emerging research agenda• Research questions about
“Sustainability”– Uptake of I-MF (0.5% of global MF is
Shari’ah compliant, CGAP survey 2008)• Economic behaviour of clients• Socio-political analysis• Effectiveness of marketing strategies
Islamic microfinance research
An emerging research agenda• Significance of knowledge gaps I:
Impact/Outreach
– I-MF still relatively small (IBBL RDS in Bangladesh 500k clients)
– Business models not easily scalable– Outreach: depth vs. breadth – Impact
Islamic microfinance research
An emerging research agenda• Significance of knowledge gaps II:
Impact/Outreach
– Evidence for social impact vs. rhetoric
“In the development NGO sector internationally there has be an increasing recognition of the weakness of institutional learning and accountability and a growing gap between the rhetoric of agencies and the reality of what they achieve” (IMP-ACT).
Islamic microfinance researchAn emerging research agenda• Research questions:
Impact/Outreach
– What is the impact of I-MF products that are in economic terms very similar to conventional products (i.e. Murabaha, Qard Hassan with 15% mark-up/fee as compared to conventional MF with 15% interest)?
– How can we measure the impact especially of the salient features of I-MF, i.e. equitable financing?
– How can I-MF make a difference in particular contexts, i.e. Is asset-based financing or P/L better mitigating against external economic shocks etc?
Islamic microfinance research
How can I-MFIs drive research?• building partnerships with academia
– privileged access to data– encourage research– engage in critical debate
Islamic microfinance research
How can IMFIs drive research?
Case study: El Shaarani Centre for Islamic Business and Finance partnership with IR- At Aston Business School, Birmingham:
- Shared research agenda- Looking for a market niche- Looking to be relevant to industry and society (Research Assessment Exercise)- Research on client behaviour (marketing) and comparative impact assessment
Islamic microfinance research
The way forward
-consortium-based research allows smaller I-MFIs to contribute by pooling resources-Global players (e.g. IRTI, WCMP) to take lead on global issues
- bridge competitive ‘industry’ -conceptualise and operationalise research- knowledge exchange
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