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Purpose – Islamic microfinance is a substantial tool for poverty alleviation and economic empowerment. The paper aims at accessing the potential of Islamic microfinance for the purpose of achieving the economic empowerment in Tunisia. Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire survey method is used. The method is intended for some of the beneficiaries of Zitouna Tamkeen (ZT), the only Islamic microfinance institution in Tunisia. Responses are analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences program. Findings – The authors infer that though the Islamic and conventional microfinance have similar objectives, the methods are different. What is more, the economic empowerment requires not only financial inclusion and entrepreneurship, but also skill development. The results of the survey reveal that ZT has contributed to certain economic empowerment of most of ZT's beneficiaries. In addition, the authors bring to the fore that providing supportive infrastructure and investment is a prominent component of the economic empowerment process. Research limitations/implications – In the paper, the sample is limited. Practical implications – The authors have highlighted that some structural barriers to entrepreneurship – such as legal, operational and marketing challenges – need to be addressed in a practical way. Originality/value – This paper establishes the relationship between the Islamic microfinance and economic empowerment. The current paper is the first investigation in this field in Tunisia.

Microfinance is regarded as an effective technique of poverty alleviation since it provides access to financial resources that can assist in poverty reduction by increasing financial involvement and empowerment. However, despite the fact that microfinance banks account for the vast bulk of the market in Nigeria, with over 800, their contribution to the country’s economy is less than 1%. Additionally, the primary objective of poverty eradication has not been accomplished. Thus, existing research has positioned Islamic microfinance institutions as a viable tool for poverty alleviation in Nigeria. However, Islamic microfinance banks in Nigeria continue to witness minimal development. This research investigates the challenges hindering the development of Islamic microfinance banks in Nigeria. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data for this study. In addition, data reduction, coding, integration, and visualisation steps are implemented to analyse data effectively. The finding shows that several regulatory issues, such as licence procedures requiring paid-up capital, are some challenges. Likewise, awareness, misconceptions, and acceptance remain significant hindrances faced by IMFBs in Nigeria. Additionally, IMFBs face some in-house challenges, such as a lack of Islamic fintech, convenient access to the unbanked community, and human capital. Consequently, the study recommends that stakeholders in the Nigerian financial system launch public awareness campaigns about the significance of Islamic microfinance banks in promoting financial inclusion and reducing poverty.

This study investigates the impact of using Islamic microfinance products on the microenterprise’s development in Nouakchott-Mauritania and tests the moderator effect of gender. The data is collected from 381 beneficiaries of PROCAPEC-Nouakchott through a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling is utilized to test the hypothesis. The results show that the usage of Islamic microfinance products has a positive impact on microenterprises. Nonetheless, gender has no moderator effect in the model. Based on these findings, policymakers and managers of Islamic microfinance institutions are highly recommended to ease the usage of Islamic microfinance products for micro- entrepreneurs to increase their productivity and financial independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction of poverty and socio-economic development has become a foremost issue in modern society. One approach to improving this was the establishment of microfinance, which has since become an important part of poverty alleviation strategies, but very few studies have considered its benefits based on characteristics other than poverty. Therefore, this study aims to investigate and determine how different client characteristics affect the way people benefit from the financing provided by microfinance institutions. Data were gathered from the beneficiaries of both conventional and Islamic microfinance using a questionnaire, and then analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis and the Mann–Whitney U tests. The results show how MFI financing benefits clients differently based on certain characteristics, as well as how these socioeconomic benefits differ based on whether the financing is provided by a conventional or an Islamic MFI. Overall, conventional and Islamic MFIs have similar strategies when it comes to providing socio-economic benefits to their clients. However, where they diverge is when client gender is considered, as IMFIs are more likely to benefit women. This research will be beneficial to MFIs in terms of the development of their services, as it will help them identify the strengths and weaknesses of their offerings and how well these are able to assist them in fulfilling their purpose of providing benefit to the poorest of the poor, increasing financial inclusion and contributing to socio-economic development.

This study examines the impact of using Islamic microfinance products on the Mauritanian microentrepreneurs’ income level. The study is purely quantitative, and it uses cross-sectional design data, which was gathered through a questionnaire from a sample of 381 beneficiaries of an Islamic microfinance institution (PROCAPEC). It uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to determine the effectiveness of using Islamic microfinance products on the beneficiaries’ income as well as to test the moderator effect of gender on the relationship in the model. The research found out that the use of Islamic microfinance products has increased the beneficiaries’ income; however, gender has no moderator effect on the relationship between the usage of Islamic microfinance products and income level. These findings help the policymakers and managers of Islamic microfinance consider the factors increasing Islamic microfinance products’ usage to reduce poverty in the country. This study is among the pioneer in the field of Islamic microfinance in Mauritania due to the scarcity of studies in the geographical context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze poverty alleviation and financial inclusion in the mustahik em­powerment program in Pekanbaru. The samples involved in this study were 105 people drawn from four organizations of zakat in Pekanbaru. The analytical technique conducted using qualitative de­scriptive analysis. The results of this study show that the economic empowerment program conducted by zakat institutions in Pekanbaru has succeeded in alleviating the mustahik of the poverty line. Based on the World Bank's poverty line, there are 34.07% of successful out of poverty line. Meanwhile, if using the Government poverty line then there are 60.29% mustahik who managed to get out of the poverty line. However, this empowerment program has not been integrated with the sharia micro­finance institutions. Therefore, the empowerment program for mustahik should be integrated with Islamic microfinance to pursue successful financial inclusion for mustahik.

Microfinance is a process of providing financial access in the form of micro-credits, and other services such as microinsurance, savings, checking accounts and payment systems to the poor who do not have access to conventional banking. Lack of collateral and capital assets put limitations on the marginalized community to access the funds through the conventional banking system which leads to their financial exclusion. It is grasped that the objective of financial inclusion can be achieved at its full potential through redistributive instruments (Zakah, Awqaf, Qard al-hassan) of the Islamic microfinance industry. Pakistan Microfinance Review (2017) revealed that Akhuwat (A leading Islamic microfinance organization based on voluntarism and philanthropy) had maintained its outreach top spot in terms of Active Borrowers (820,000) during the year 2017. This study is conducted to analyze microfinance services provided by Akhuwat and its effects on borrowers' income and consumption. The study adopted the qualitative research designed by applying questionnaires and interviewing techniques to collect data. The study finds that there was a reasonable increase in the income and consumption of the borrowers. Results indicate an average increase of 18% in rural borrowers' income and an average increase of 23% in urban borrowers' income. The study recommends that vocational training should be provided to people in rural areas to enable them to engage in diverse business activities instead of solely relying on agriculture-related business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nigeria's return to democratic rule about 18 years ago heralded a new beginning that was expected to promote political stability, ensure economic prosperity and build societal civility. However, Nigeria is now politically disintegrated, socially dislocated and economically unstable mainly due to many reasons but chiefly socio-economic exclusion. Notwithstanding its large Muslim population, policy recommendations from the West towards solving its myriad of political-economy issues often discounts Islamic alternatives. This has brought to the fore a challenge to the status quo as well as the philosophy that underlines Nigeria's political-economy inclinations and implications for its teeming population. The objective of this theoretical paper is to stimulate discourse on the policy directions that are in alignment with political economy reality of Nigeria as a Muslim majority country. Specifically, this paper profiles Nigeria's current socio-economic realities, and its political economy vis-à-vis the global economic order. The paper argues that the various Islamic social finance platforms especially Islamic microfinance may play a big role in mitigating the mutual exclusivity of democracy and socio-economic inclusion of Nigerians especially the Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using international data, we find that Islamic MFIs experience reduced credit risk by offering more groups loans, serving more women, and serving more borrowers in rural locations. Conventional MFIs benefit from fewer group loans, less loans to rural borrowers, and a greater focus on female borrowers. Our results contribute to microfinance and financial inclusion literature by highlighting the potential of tapping into the social dynamics within Muslim communities. We present encouraging insights for Islamic MFIs donors and managers on the possibility of promoting the financial inclusion of women and rural borrowers without compromising the quality of the credit portfolio. • Lending to groups, women and rural borrowers reduces the credit risk of Islamic MFIs. • Conventional MFIs benefit from fewer group and rural loans. • Financial inclusion does not compromise the quality of Islamic MFIs' credit portfolio. • We point to the potential of tapping into the social dynamics in Muslim communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ICT has been recently developed into a digital sustainable collaborative networking (DCN) platform, and it is expected to be capable of demonstrating the building of social and economic welfare, particularly in crafting innovations to facilitate marginal society. This research attempts to develop an innovative platform of an empirical ICT application a branchless banking form based on ICT Model. The application of Branchless banking model is expected to address the poverty problem which is significantly high in Indonesia. Indonesia is known for it's heterogeneous values in terms of its areas, ethics, traditions, customs, communities, and local wisdom. The newly introduced application of a mobile payment system is parallel to the vision, and mission upheld by the government. Currently, most literature and practices are just partial. The community model based on Islamic microfinance and Cooperatives is neglected. Therefore, this research aims to design branchless banking in terms of financial inclusion involving Islamic microfinance and Cooperatives. Furthermore, this paper also attempts to test to what extent the proposed model is viable in the current system. This study employs a qualitative approach by conducting an interview with the stakeholders and a deductive method is used to explore and design the proposed model. The finding exhibit that branchless banking based on an Islamic microfinance and a Cooperative model is more flexible and easily acceptable while crafting a deal with Indonesian. In addition, the proposed model is viable in the current system. By implementing this model, the economy can be strengthened toward national unity and a welfare state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial inclusion (FI) is a global movement under the world bank programs and Alliance Financial Inclusion (AFI) which is sponsored by the Bill Gates Foundation. The aim of the movement is to ensure that the poor is able to access any financial services. The FI level in Indonesia achieved 32 %; it means 68% are financial transactions excluding the poor, whereas, the average figure in the world is just only 50%. The poverty rate in Indonesia is very high, it is reaching approximately 59%. Hence, FI is an urgent solution for the case of Indonesia. To tackle this issue, the Indonesian government has just started adopting FI by introducing the vision, the mission, and the concept for the efforts taken. The question is to what extent the appropriate model will be applied in Indonesia. There are two models: the AFI global model or top down model and another community model based on local values. There are pros and cons to the above issue. Some proponents have suggested the Islamic microfinance cooperative, i.e., the Baitul Mal Wa Tanwil (BMT) which is the offering of a solution based on its relationship to the poor. They do not agree with the global model. This study therefore attempts to evaluate the models and design the appropriate model for Indonesia which has special characteristics, i.e., cooperation, value driven culture, local wisdom, etc., which is neglected in most studies undertaken so far. This study is based on a qualitative approach done by conducting interviews of the stakeholders, using the deductive method to explore and design the model. This research revealed that the financial inclusion model based on Baitul Mal Wa Tanwil (BMT)-Cooperative is better in terms of flexibility and acceptability when compared to the global model. This is because Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world with wide distances, diverse cultures, values, customs, and religions. To deal with the distances, wide area, and efficiency issues, the ICT mobile phone should be suitably used. The implementation of the model will strengthen the unity of Indonesia and national issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]