Faizsiz mikrofinansın Etiyopya`da finansal büyümeye ve fakirlikle mücadeleye etkisi

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Etiyopya'da finansal olarak sisteme dâhil edilme (finansal içer-me) ve yoksulluğun azaltılmasında faizsiz mikro finans sisteminin rolünü değerlen-dirmeyi amaçlamıştır. Ana hedefe ulaşmak için çalışma, ülkenin farklı bölgelerinde mevcut geleneksel mikro finans kurumlarındaki faizsiz mikro finans pencerelerinden bir numune aldı. Şu anda OCSSCO, HMFI, DMI, SMFI ve RMFI gibi geleneksel MFK'lar, faizsiz mikro finansman hizmetlerini kredi ve tasarruf şeklinde sunmaktadır. Küçük girişimcileri ve işadamlarını finanse etmek için popüler bir yol olan Murabaha, faizsiz hizmet sunan neredeyse tüm MFK'lar tarafından uygulanmaktadır. Bir müşte-riye kendi seçimleri ile bir varlık satın alınır ve ona açıklanmış maliyetine kar payı ek-lenerek satılır. Bu tür bir finansman, uygulanması kolay olduğu için bugünün MFK'la-rında sıklıkla kullanılmaktadır. Ancak, bazı müşterilerin aldatmaya meyilli olmaların-dan dolayı malların alım ve satımında gerekli olan özel düzenlemeler ve dikkatlilik za-ruridir. Murabaha'ya ek olarak icare, selem ve mudarabe de belirli alanlarda MFK müşterilerine sunulmaktadır. Faizsiz mikro finans sisteminin temel zorlukları, faizsiz mikro finans hizmetleri ile ilgili eğitimli ve bilgili işgücünün yetersizliğinden kaynaklanan açık ve ayrıntılı bir mevzuatın yokluğu, sistemin muazzam ve zorlayıcı idari maliyetleri ve MFK'lar adına piyasadan satın aldıktan sonra malın kuruma teslim edilmemesi gibi bazı Şeriat ilkele-rine uyumsuzluktur. Mikro finans sektöründeki kritik endişe finansal katılım meselesi-dir. Finansal katılım, her bakımdan açık ve kapsamlı politika önlemleri ile sağlanacak-tır. Bunlardan en önemlileri arasında, ülkedeki kapsayıcı finansal sistemin uygulan-masının bir yolunu gösteren düzenleyici çerçeve yer almaktadır. Bu nedenle, NBE, yalnızca mikro finans sektöründe değil, aynı zamanda ülkenin genel mali sisteminde de faizsiz ve her şeyi kapsayan finansal hizmetlerin diğer biçimlerini gözden geçirme-li ve dikkate almalıdır. Bu politika önlemi, fonlara erişim için tüm engelleri kaldırır ve vatandaşların ekonomik sektörün her seviyesine katılımını arttırır.

Deprivations are a worldwide incident affecting people both in developed and developing countries. Though people in developed countries like members in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are being afflicted by poverty, the severity, type, magnitude and the pace of poverty is different as compared to developing countries. Poverty is one of the most critical socio-economic problems in most developing countries nowadays. Ethiopia, one of the most populous and fastest growing economies not only in Africa but also in the world is suffering from poverty and destitution. According to United Nations Development Programs (UNDP) human development index (HDI), which constitutes fundamental measurements of human development namely a lengthy and healthy life, access to education and a better standard of living, the country's ranking is among the lowest in the world. Microfinance and microcredit have been playing a great role towards reducing poverty and improving the lives of the poor and destitute. The poor section of the society cannot benefit from the conventional financial institutions like banks, insurance, money markets and the like due to institutions' priority to the urban population with low-risk profile and requirement of collateral to get loan. Consequently, the poor people don't entitle to get loan and other financial services because of their high-risk profile (the lenders think that they are unlikely to get back the money they borrowed due to the high probability of default) Financial inclusion is a vital enabler to plummeting poverty and enhancing welfare. Therefore, the main target of microfinance institutions (MFIs) ought to ensure financial inclusion of `unbanked`, `unserved` or `underserved` parts of the community in order to reduce poverty, empower underprivileged population groups, and help encourage entrepreneurship and creation of employment to mention some. This study tried to assess the role of interest-free microfinance system in financial inclusion and poverty alleviation in Ethiopia. In the last two decades, there are several studies regarding the regulatory framework, performance and financial sustainability, outreach, financial inclusion, challenges and the role of MFIs towards poverty alleviation to mention some. The fact that the MFIs in Ethiopia are at infant stage, most of the studies focused on regulatory frameworks and other challenges which are the main impediments of microfinance industry in the country. Though numerous studies emphasized on the outreach of MFIs, they overlooked the religious reasons which drive the microfinance clients out of the system and the solution for that. A considerable number of Muslim populations, about one-third of the countries' 105 million people, should have an alternative form of finance based on the religion's principles and rules which deal with financial and investment issues. UNDP's HDI value indicates that Ethiopia's Afar and Somali, regions which are predominantly Muslim, have the lowest value as compared to the other regions even though the recent data show that there is a progress (see figure 1). Similarly, the regions with high MPI value (includes incidence and intensity of poverty) and with extreme destitution are Muslim dominated regions namely Afar, Somali and Beneshangul- Gumuz. Enhancing financial inclusion and thereby trying to alleviate the rampant poverty in these areas will improve the overall development of the country.To achieve the main objective, the study took a sample of interest free microfinance windows in the existing conventional microfinance institutions in different parts of the country. In order to attain the objective of the study, descriptive method of research is used to understand the general overview and performance of MFIs in Ethiopia towards ensuring financial inclusion and reducing poverty from the country. The study will try to show how the existing interest free MFIs in some areas of the Eastern Ethiopia accomplish to bring those who are far from participation in the financial sector due to religious and other reasons to have access to finance and support their small projects which help them enhance their wellbeing. The data, which are crucial for the study will be collected from National Bank of Ethiopia- the central bank which regulators the financial systems and institutions in the nation. Even though interest MFIs are recent undertakings, data related to the conventional MFIs can be accessed from the bank's reports. Data regarding the particular interest-free MFIs will be collected from the websites, annual and performance reports, development reviews and so on. Moreover, interviews will be made with the managers and/directors of the respective interest-free MFIs concerning the institutions performances, the models and products used in financing and other services (if any), the prospects of the newly applied financial services, the challenges faced by the institutions' and clients and so on. Due to the newness of the system and establishment of the institutions together with inability to get organized data, at this point, empirical study cannot be made. Rather, the performance and potential of these institutions towards financial inclusion and reducing poverty will be discussed. The analysis will be supported by tables, graphs, charts and other statistical tools.Right now, conventional MFIs like OCSSCO, HMFI, DMI, SMFI and RMFI are providing interest free microfinance services in the form of credit and saving. Murabaha, a popular form of financing small entrepreneurs and businesspersons, is being implemented by almost all MFI which offer interest free services. They buy an asset to a customer on his/her choices and sell him/her with disclosed cost plus markup. This type of financing become very common in today's MFIs since it is easy to apply. However, special arrangements & vigilance are essential for purchase & sale of goods as some clients may deceive in the process. In addition to murabaha, ijara,salam and mudarebe are being delivered to MFI clients in the selected areas. One of the main challenges for interest free microfinance system, according to HMF officers is unavailability of clear and detailed legislation from the NBE as how to implement interest free system and it didn't mention how to treat defaults when they happen. This situation makes the system vague and prone to misinterpretation and results in the absence of standardization. Moreover, shortage of trained and knowledgeable workforce related to interest free microfinance services, immense and arduous administrative cost of the system and clients' nonconformity with some Sharia principles like failure to deliver the item to the institution after they acquired it from the market on behalf the MFI are also cited as additional challenges.Having motivated by the above stated research gap, the current study will lend a hand to developmental policy makers, academicians, practitioners and regulatory agencies in order to improve the services the MFIs provide to their clients in a way that become all-encompassing and participatory so as to contribute to the broad development objectives the country. For the reason that the theory and practice of interest-free microfinance services are recent undertakings, little has been studied regarding this area due to lack of knowledge and awareness, donors and financiers demands, uncompromising microfinance systems, absence of primary studies which focus on the reasons why some people don't want to benefit from the existing system. This study will inspire and be a springboard to similar studies and researches vis-à-vis interest-free microfinance models and products that enable the poor segment of the society to be part of the existing financial system taking into consideration religious reasons and other preferences. The study, moreover, will try to contribute in terms of assessing the regulatory and structural hurdles that affect the overall activities of MFIs in Ethiopia in general and interest-free MFIs in particular. It will also provide some information about the performance and contribution of the functioning interest-free MIFs in some parts of the country.