Analyzing the Effects of Credit Management Practices on Loan Repayment Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Makamba, Burundi
Authors: Nininahazwe Pacifique , Mutembei Christopher 
Published: October 2023

The ability to obtain funding is crucial to the success of microfinance institutions. To give credit to micro entrepreneurs, an individual’s credit history and worthiness is pivotal. However, loan payback performance is a barrier. Burundi's financial institutions have collapsed as a result of poor credit management. The purpose of this study was analyzing the effects of credit management practices on loan performance in Microfinance institutions. The study was based on the subsequent goals: to ascertain the impact of client evaluation on loan repayment performance benchmark; to assess how credit risk management control affect MFI loan payback performance; to determine how credit terms affects MFI’ ability to collect loan; and to ascertain how credit collection practices affect MFI loan repayment performance. Ten microfinance Institutions registered in the Makamba province of Burundi were used. Purposive sampling was employed as the sample method in this investigation. Target population of study was 134 and sample size was 100 from using Yamane’s formula. Mean, frequency and standard deviation were also the main descriptive statics employed. Primary data from credit officers, managers’ officers, finance and accounting officers, cashiers, control officers and recovery officers of all microfinance Makamba, Burundi were used. To be utilized to gather main information on credit management techniques, structured questionnaires were used to gather primary data on existing microfinance loan records. The secondary data about the documentation reports related to the loan performance of microfinance institutions for the period 2018-2021 was verified to ensure whether those MFIs recorded loan repayment performance or not. Findings revealed that the Pearson Chi-Square value is 85.226, and the Likelihood Ratio value is 85.656. These values represent the chi-square test statistics for the association between the variables of interest (credit collection policy and loan repayment performance). In both cases, the p-value is 0.000, indicating a statistically significant association between the variables. Multiple linear regressions indicated that client evaluation had the highest positive correlation of 0.141 proves that there existed a positive significant relationship between client evaluation and loan repayment performance while credit risk control had a negative correlation of -0.014, credit terms had no correlation since its beta value was found to be 0.00 and credit collection policy had a negative correlation of -0.014. Evaluating clients' characteristics, such as moral character and creditworthiness, before granting loans is important for microfinance institutions. Microfinance institutions should focus on implementing robust credit risk control mechanisms to mitigate default risk and improve overall repayment rates. There is need for investigate the long-term effects of credit management practices on loan repayment performance by conducting longitudinal studies that track borrowers and analyze their repayment behavior over an extended period.