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Setting the Future Research Agenda for Islamic microfinance: Establishing the Evidence Base for Impact and Sustainabilit

Setting the Future Research Agenda for Islamic microfinance: Establishing the Evidence Base for Impact and Sustainability. D r Mohammed Kroessin Global Microfinance Advisor ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE. Islamic microfinance research. Agenda Why research? An emerging research agenda

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Setting the Future Research Agenda for Islamic microfinance: Establishing the Evidence Base for Impact and Sustainabilit

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  1. Setting the Future Research Agenda for Islamic microfinance: Establishing the Evidence Base for Impact and Sustainability Dr Mohammed Kroessin Global Microfinance Advisor ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE

  2. Islamic microfinance research Agenda • Why research? • An emerging research agenda • How can IMFIs drive research? • The way forward

  3. Islamic microfinance research Why research? • What is research? • Academic / IF fiqh • Market research • R&D / product development • Knowledge generation • Pure knowledge: academia • Applied knowledge: product development

  4. Islamic microfinance research An emerging research agenda • What do we know: • I-MF in academia: very little interest in I-MF (Habib Ahmed) • I-MF R&D: some internal product development & innovation (Grameen-Jameel etc.) • I-MF market research: slowly emerging (IRTI, Kuwait Finance House, CGAP etc.)

  5. Islamic microfinance research An emerging research agenda • Knowledge gaps (what don’t we know) Sustainability - Outreach / impact

  6. Islamic microfinance research An emerging research agenda • Significance of knowledge gaps: “Sustainability”

  7. Islamic microfinance research An emerging research agenda • Significance of knowledge gaps: “Sustainability in the I-MF context” • Social • non exploitative financing modes • Ethical vs. Sharia complaint • Environmental • Renewable resources (energy, raw materials, pollution) • Economic • Financial viability

  8. Islamic microfinance research An emerging research agenda • Research questions about “Sustainability” • Uptake of I-MF (0.5% of global MF is Shari’ah compliant, CGAP survey 2008) • Economic behaviour of clients • Socio-political analysis • Effectiveness of marketing strategies

  9. Islamic microfinance research An emerging research agenda • Significance of knowledge gaps I: Impact/Outreach • I-MF still relatively small (IBBL RDS in Bangladesh 500k clients) • Business models not easily scalable • Outreach: depth vs. breadth • Impact

  10. Islamic microfinance research An emerging research agenda • Significance of knowledge gaps II: Impact/Outreach • Evidence for social impact vs. rhetoric “In the development NGO sector internationally there has be an increasing recognition of the weakness of institutional learning and accountability and a growing gap between the rhetoric of agencies and the reality of what they achieve” (IMP-ACT).

  11. Islamic microfinance research An emerging research agenda • Research questions: Impact/Outreach • What is the impact of I-MF products that are in economic terms very similar to conventional products (i.e. Murabaha, Qard Hassan with 15% mark-up/fee as compared to conventional MF with 15% interest)? • How can we measure the impact especially of the salient features of I-MF, i.e. equitable financing? • How can I-MF make a difference in particular contexts, i.e. Is asset-based financing or P/L better mitigating against external economic shocks etc?

  12. Islamic microfinance research How can I-MFIs drive research? • building partnerships with academia • privileged access to data • encourage research • engage in critical debate

  13. Islamic microfinance research How can IMFIs drive research? Case study: El Shaarani Centre for Islamic Business and Finance partnership with IR • At Aston Business School, Birmingham: • Shared research agenda • Looking for a market niche • Looking to be relevant to industry and society (Research Assessment Exercise) • Research on client behaviour (marketing) and comparative impact assessment

  14. Islamic microfinance research The way forward • consortium-based research allows smaller I-MFIs to contribute by pooling resources • Global players (e.g. IRTI, WCMP) to take lead on global issues • bridge competitive ‘industry’ • conceptualise and operationalise research • knowledge exchange

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