Microfinance Interventions in the COVID-19 Challenging Context: A Systematic Review

Microfinance programs are recognized as one of the world’s leading development programs, having achieved great success in alleviating poverty, reducing inequality and eliminating gender discrimination among the underprivileged population. The COVID-19 pandemic posed enormous challenges for the microfinance sector globally. Several studies have been conducted to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of microcredit borrowers and the operational outcomes of microfinance institutions (MFIs). However, these studies are inadequate and provide less comprehensive evidence. Therefore, to obtain comprehensive evidence, this systematic review aimed to synthesize recent literature on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on microcredit borrowers’ financial and non-financial outcomes and the operations of MFIs in several nations and regions. A systematic search of four electronic databases generated 81 studies, from which 10 full-length original and reviewed articles and two working papers were selected for review by narrative analysis. These studies covered eight single countries and one cross-country of two global regions. This review documented that microfinance borrowers experienced a significant drop in their financial outcomes, such as average income, daily spending on essentials, savings, wealth accumulation and loan repayment. The pandemic also severely threatened their food security and consumption, health, education and employment opportunities. Moreover, MFIs’ regular operations, for example, credit recovery, credit demand, credit disbursement and physical counseling, were significantly disrupted.