COVID 19 RESPONSE AND RESILIENCE OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS IN KENYA.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens lives and livelihoods, and, with that, has created immediate challenges for institutions that serve affected communities. The study focuses on microfinance institutions in Kenya, a country with a mature microfinance sector, serving a large number of households. The institutions serve populations poorly-served by traditional commercial banks, helping customers invest in microenterprises, save, and maintain liquidity. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, there rightly has been a lot of concern about the impact on microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their clients. Nonetheless, a number of microfinance institutions in Kenya have devised ways of responding to the crisis so as to ensure continued operations and retain their clients. This study therefore sought to assess covid 19 response strategies and the resilience of the microfinance institutions in Kenya. Descriptive and explorative research design was adopted as well as positivism research philosophy. The target population of this study was 234 working in 11 licensed MFIs operating in Nairobi County whereby Yamane’s formula (1967) was employed to select a sample size of 148 respondents. The study used stratified random sampling; data was collected by the use of primary and secondary data. Secondary data was obtained from published reports and primary data was obtained by the use of semi-structured questionnaires to collect data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 24) was used to analyze data. Inferential and descriptive statistics were deployed to analyze data. The study concludes that flexible staffing arrangements have a positive and significant influence on the resilience of microfinance institutions in Kenya. In addition, the study found that concludes that reduction in lending has a positive and significant influence on the resilience of microfinance institutions in Kenya. From the findings, the study recommends that the top management of the micro-financial institutions should ensure borrowers are thoroughly scrutinized to differentiate risky borrower from safe ones hence increasing the resilience level of the MFIs