scholarly journals Advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): An Analysis of How Non- Financial Services of Microfinance Insitutions Facilitate Human Capital Development of Clients in Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
Ernestina Fredua Antoh ◽  
Albert A Arhin

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, together with seventeen goals that are collectively called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study examined the effects of non-financial microfinance services on human capital development of clients and discusses its implications on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The case is drawn from Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT), which is a microfinance institution of Ghana. Primary data were collected from 361 clients in seven districts of the Ashanti Region, Ghana. The results of the ordinary least square (OLS) regression showed that non-financial services offered by SAT had positive significance on human capital development of the clients. This finding shows how additional services from microfinance institution could help clients to maximise the value of loans offered to support income-generating economic activities. For clients, the study also draws attention to the need for them to take non-financial services offered by microfinance institutions seriously to improve on their own human capital development in the context of the SDGs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4303
Author(s):  
US Thathsarani ◽  
Jianguo Wei ◽  
GRSRC Samaraweera

Many of the 2030 sustainable development goals have targeted the strengthening of financial inclusion, which is currently a key policy priority on the agendas of most governments in developing nations. The process of facilitating banking and financial services for individuals is called financial inclusion, which supports growth and the broader development goals of an economy. Although economic growth and human capital development indices have been analyzed using different proxy variables, insufficient attention has been paid to constructing a composite index for measuring this to achieve greater sustainability in terms of the economy, communities, and the environment. This study sought to address this gap using secondary data from eight countries in South Asia from 2004 to 2018. A financial inclusion index was developed through principal component analysis using an econometric approach of panel data with vector error correction models and a Granger causality test. As per the results of the study, financial inclusion has a long-run impact on human capital development in South Asian countries, whereas it has a short-run positive impact on economic growth. Domestic credits to the private sector also impact the short-run growth and human capital development in the economy. This ensures the confidence of vulnerable communities in their economy, as well as information management, and allows for quality enhancements of transactions with fewer environmental impacts. Government intervention to improve access to financial services, including ATMs and commercial banking, is one policy allowing digital finance to accelerate the achievement of sustainable development goals in South Asian countries.


10.1596/27533 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Mills ◽  
Carla Abouzahr ◽  
Jane Kim ◽  
Bahie M. Rassekh ◽  
Deborah Sarpong

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