Link Program: Evidence from Microfinance Institution in Jordan

Abstract

This paper studies and assesses the methodology of the “Link Program”, i.e., a process which the owners of micro-enterprises can undergo to help them grow their micro-enterprises into small and medium sized concerns. We evaluated the impact on the performance of micro entrepreneurs as a function of financial and non-financial support provided by a microfinance bank – NMB. The paper established specific criteria for enterprises’ graduation, namely: completing 3 loan periods with outstanding credibility and dedication of repayment, continuous profit growth rate obtained as a result of activities (revenue) expansion, formalizing the enterprise by registering it with the government, and generating jobs for local candidates. The paper made use of a sample of 8,000clients who took business loans and had accessed non-financial support provided by the NMB during a period of six to eighteen months. We employed a standard data analysis against graduation criteria and found the “AS IS” non-financial services (counseling and networking) have affected the performance of a few micro and small enterprises; only 13.7% of NMB’s clients grew. Although many micro and small enterprises do not usually grow as would be expected, the result from Jordan is below the international practices which showed that 50% and 60% of modern MSE in Latin America and Asia grew from low entrepreneurs. It was therefore concluded that NMB should design and deliver a more comprehensive and innovative non-financial services (“TO BE” approach).