Translocal view on microfinance trajectories: scales, flows and interconnections
Summary
As of 2018, the Microfinance Industry reached about 139 million individuals worldwide
with loans totally estimating 114 USD. Development Institutions and powerful donors are
deploying substantial funding to the expansion of global financial systems as microfinance has
become a primary enabling tool for financial inclusion in the Global South and Global North
alike.
Objective of this elaborate is to explore from an explicitly translocal perspective the
characteristics ofthe material and immaterial flows mobilized within the industry, and by doing
so, drawing physical and non-physical connections between levels of interaction. An attempt to
investigate the dimensions of the microfinance sector’s spatial configuration is made through
the provision of quantitative data and visual mapping concerning the relevant flows and
interconnections that link different scales and actors within the industry and the global
movement for financial inclusion as a whole.
As to conclude, the need for further research is identified in order to assess the
consequences of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the industry as well as the outcomes of the
industry’s gradual restructuring to fit wider processes of development financialization.