• Guidance and evaluation

Guidance and evaluation

This commentary argues that micro credit should be judged by its effectiveness, not good intentions. Grameen-style initiatives are considered to have limited capacity to fight global poverty, especially when placed in neoliberal political environments. This is due to neoliberal macroeconomic policies such as reduction of credit subsidies for domestic businesses and opening up of domestic markets to imports and multinational investors. These policies counteract the efforts of the Grameen Bank and its confederates.

For large numbers of micro enterprises to be successful, they need access to decent roads and affordable means of moving their products to markets; marketing support; and a vibrant, well-functioning domestic market. Many of these features of the development state model have been dismantled by neoliberalism.

Using Kenya as a case study, the author argues that the way to realise the promise of micro credit is to embed the best features of the model within a broader developmental strategy for promoting growth, decent employment, and poverty reduction. Operating within the context of a neoliberal policy framework, micro credit initiatives will continue to face overwhelming obstacles in fighting global poverty.

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