Gils mean business: can performance ofmicrofinance institutions be enhanced by femaile participation?

The Microfinance Summit Campaign claims that about 90% of the world customers of financial services for the poor are women. To examine the belief that female borrowers are more reliable clients for microfinance institutions than men, the current study examines financial data provided by 180 MFIs based in 14 countries in West Africa for the years 2005-2009. The result confirms that MFIs, which target more women, have lower portfolio at risk and write off ratios. Examination of the interaction terms and splitting the dataset on specific categories reveals that the benefits of higher female participation are stronger for rural institutions and organizations with larger average loan amounts.