Translocal view on microfinance trajectories: scales, flows and interconnections

Abstract

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.