The Role of Micro Insurance on Poverty Reduction: A Study of Insurance Companies in Ghana (Published)
Purpose- The purpose of this paper to investigate, explore and assess the role of Micro-insurance in poverty reduction Design/ methodology/approach- This paper is a qualitative analysis based on three case studies. Non-probability sampling techniques are used for choosing the unit of analysis which resulted in 4 firms (4 managers). Also, data were collected via a questionnaire and an in-depth interview. Findings- The study identified that Micro-insurance provides financial support to the poor in the event of a disaster, social protection against disasters and shocks, savings, employment, and as well as enhances asset accumulation among clients. The study found that the lack of innovative micro-insurance product, inadequate distribution channels, the lack of supportive micro-insurance legal framework, uncompetitive pricing of micro-insurance products, low government support in micro-insurance programs, low-income levels of respondents, the religious or cultural factors influence the demand of insurance products and low public trust are the factors that affect the demand of micro-insurance products. Also, the study found that the development of innovative products, establishing processes that build trust in clients, instituting efficient service delivery channels, documentation should be simplified and the government should support micro-insurance products are the ways to increase patronage of micro-insurance products.Research limitations- the sample size is still limited and in the future, a quantitative analysis should be used. The study is limited in terms of geographical area. The findings of the study are more likely to hold for another Sub-Saharan context. However, the applicability of these findings to other contexts needs further investigation. Originality/value- while interest in micro-insurance is increasing in emerging markets, there is little known and written on micro-insurance. Therefore, the role of micro-insurance has not been explored so far.
Keywords: Constraints, Ghana, Insurance, Microcredit, Poverty Alleviation, microinsurance, sub-Saharan Africa
Problems and Prospects of Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Nigeria (Published)
Several poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria, initiated by both the Government and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), aimed at combating and alleviating poverty, have been found not to be successful. Instead of reducing the incidence of poverty, which is their sole aim, these programmes tend to serve as means for draining the national resources due to the pursuit of parochial interests, as a result fostering corruption and dishonesty. For a successful implementation of these programmes, the government and the implementation agencies must take a more proactive approach and specifically look into the area of poor management and poor accountability, among staff. Also poverty is a multidimensional issue, hence cannot be fought focusing only on one sector of the economy, strategies for poverty reduction must also be multidimensional, focusing on all sectors, as well as, on the emancipation of the poor. Strengthen the existing poverty alleviation strategies and ensuring good management could be one major way towards the effective performance of existing poverty alleviation programmes.
Keywords: Nigeria, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Poverty alleviation programmes
IMPACT OF MICRO-CREDIT ON POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA – THE CASE OF ENUGU EAST LOCAL COUNCIL (Published)
Poverty has remained a global phenomenon and has defied various attempts at curbing it especially in developing countries. The high and unacceptable number of people within its grip around the world gave it a pride of place as one of the major goals of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000. Poverty alleviation was a prime target of the MDGs and micro-credit was recognized as a veritable tool for tackling it. In this paper, we examined empirically the effect of micro-credit on poverty alleviation in Nigeria using some selected rural farm households in Enugu East Local Government of Nigeria. To achieve this, primary data were collected on the sources and access to micro credit; the incidence, depth and severity of poverty among the selected rural households. Appropriate descriptive and analytical tools were employed to process the data obtained. The results of the study show that poverty level is still high among the rural populace; but those that have access to micro-credit seems to have fared better than those who have no access to micro-credit. In other words, access to micro-credit has positive but not significant impact on poverty alleviation among the rural populace. The study recommends that government should intensify effort in its recent financial inclusion strategy to ensure that the rural populace has greater access to micro credits. Government should also ensure that interest rate on micro credits are affordable, the terms of the credits flexible and the conditions attached to the credit well liberalized
Keywords: Micro Credit, Poverty Alleviation, Rural Development, Rural Households