1. Microcredit in the Caribbean: Experiences & Best Practice
Dr. Jonathan G. Lashley
SALISES, UWI, Barbados

2. Background Grameen Bank and Mohammed Yunus in the 1970s
Microfinance Movement spread as a weapon in the fight against poverty
Many failures due to a lack of appreciation of context (social, cultural and economic)
Exclusion of the poor and scaling-up to reach ‘bankable’ clients

3. Objectives
Identify main experiences of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and their clients
Utilise these findings to recommend ‘Best Practice’
Reasons for success and failure?
The EXIT RATE as an indicator of success
Steps for increasing the productivity of microfinance

4. Countries & MFIs Examined
Caribbean countries of Barbados, Dominica, and Trinidad and Tobago originally selected
Trinidad & Tobago MFI declined during data gathering
Charity- Barbados Youth Business Trust (Barbados)
Community-Based- Pinelands Enterprise Facilitation Services (Barbados)
Private Sector Initiative- National Development Foundation (Dominica)

5. Methodology Institutional Analysis Client surveys
Case Studies of a selection of clients from each MFI

6. Main Findings Failures lie at several levels
The EXIT RATE cannot be used as a measure of success
Client histories absent due to lack of institutional capacity
External environment constraints
Loans are small, NOT micro
Asset-based lending
The poor are not benefiting
Lack of networking among MFIs and other support organisations

7. POLICY RECOMENDATIONS
Need to identify:
Who are the poor- not a homogeneous group
What their main needs are- very poor are risk averse, greater need to increase employability not entrepreneurship
How to ensure that they benefit from microfinance provision- the poor are rural, female, young and under-educated

8. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS: Problems & Solutions
Small Size
Inefficient MFIs
Lack of Savings-led Approaches
Bias towards small enterprises
Heavy reliance on subsidies

9. Directions to follow?
What are our goals in the provision of microfinance?
Poverty Alleviation or Self-Sufficient MFIs?
Decisions need to be made!

10. Future Research Issues
What are the finance needs of the different groups within the ‘poor’?
Is there sufficient demand that a tiered approach can be successful?
Can an apex MFI survive in a Caribbean context?