Microfinance is at the forefront of economic empowerment and poverty alleviation in underprivileged communities. It is an entirely accepted channel for promoting women’s empowerment and eventually realising economic freedom and development. This study highlights the unique role played by microfinance in empowering women in rural areas, a unique state that ranks high in most of the progressive social and demographic indicators. The study’s findings indicated the importance of microfinance in women’s empowerment. The findings revealed that microfinance plays a unique role in women’s empowerment and that all the respondents expressed satisfaction with most aspects of microfinance, such as interest rate, customer service, modes of repayment, financial education and training and procedures involved in approving loans. The study is significant for policymakers and others similarly tasked with developing initiatives to enhance women’s empowerment.

Microfinance, policymakers, social indicators, women’s empowerment

Anwar, M., & Aslam, M. (2017). Microfinance institutions and women empowerment: Empirical evidence from Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 37(2), 317–3

Banerjee, A., Karlan, D., & Zinman, J. (2015). Six randomized evaluations of microcredit: Introduction and further steps. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1), 1–21.

Baruah, I., Bora, M., & Deka, M. J. (2022). Impact of Bandhan microfinance on empowerment of rural women in Tinsukia district of Assam. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 77–84. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajaees/2022/v40i330862

Chowdhury, M., Sarker, S. C., & Alam, F. (2020). Microfinance and women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh: A multidimensional analysis. World Development Perspectives, 17, 100174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2020.100174

Dash, M., Prasad, V., & Koshy, C. (2016). Women empowerment through microfinance services. Journal of Applied Management and Investments, 5, 20–25.

Datta, D., & Singh, S. (2019). Microfinance and women’s empowerment: An empirical study in rural India. International Journal of Social Economics, 46(3), 368–384. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-04-2018-0191

Duflo, E. (2012). Women empowerment and economic development. Journal of Economic Literature, 50(4), 1051–1079. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.50.4.1051

Hameed, S., Bano, S., & Iqbal, J. (2018). Impact of microfinance on poverty alleviation and women empowerment. Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies, 4(1), 47–56. https://doi.org/10.26710/jbsee.v4i1.297

Karlan, D., Osman, A., & Zinman, J. (2016). Measuring the impact of community-based microfinance in the Philippines. Journal of Development Economics, 120, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2015.12.002

Lee, C., & Huruta, A. D. (2022). Green microfinance and women’s empowerment: Why does financial literacy matter? Sustainability, 14(5), 3130. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14053130

Lyngdoh, B., & Pati, A. (2013). Impact of microfinance on women empowerment in the matrilineal tribal society of India: An analysis using propensity score matching and difference-in-difference. International Journal of Rural Management, 9, 45–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973005213479207

Maîtrot, M. (2021). The moral economy of microfinance in rural Bangladesh: Dharma, gender and social change. Development and Change, 53(2), 335–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12700

Mayoux, L. (2001). Tackling the down side: Social capital, women’s empowerment and microfinance in Cameroon. Development and Change, 32(3), 435–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00212

Mekonnen, Y., & Tessema, S. (2022). The impact of microfinance on rural women’s empowerment in Ethiopia: Evidence from panel data. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, 13(4), 691–707. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-08-2021-0315

Mengstie, B. (2022). Impact of microfinance on women’s economic empowerment. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-022-00250-3

Mengstie, B., & Singh, A. (2020). Ethiopian women economic empowerment through microfinance. Indian Journal of Finance and Banking, 4(2), 51–57. https://doi.org/10.46281/ijfb.v4i2.708

Pervin, S., Ismail, M., & Noman, A. (2023). Does microfinance singlehandedly empower women? A case study of Bangladesh. Sage Open, 13(2), 215824402210961. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221096114

Rahman, M. M., Khanam, R., & Nghiem, S. (2017). The effects of microfinance on women’s empowerment: New evidence from Bangladesh. International Journal of Social Economics, 44(12), 1745–1757. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijse-02-2016-0070

Ranganathan, N., Stern, E., Knight, L., Muvhango, L., Molebatsi, M., Polzer-Ngwato, T., & Stöckl, H. (2021). Women’s economic status, male authority patterns and intimate partner violence: A qualitative study in rural North West Province, South Africa. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 24(5), 717–734. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2021.1880639

Sahoo, S., & Rath, B. N. (2016). Microfinance and rural development: Evidence from India. International Journal of Social Economics, 43(12), 1412–1427. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-04-2015-0096

Sanyal, P. (2009). From credit to collective action: The role of microfinance in promoting women’s social capital and normative influence. American Sociological Review, 74(4), 529–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400402

Sultana, A., & Hasan, T. (2021). Women empowerment through microfinance: A study on Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 11(1), 34–51. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-07-2020-0211

Sunitha, K., Rathi, R., Sanyal, A., & Daftari, K. (2020). Microfinance and women empowerment in India. International Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.18843/ijms/v7i1/02

Temba, L., Mwaipopo, L., & Ismail, K. (2023). Assessing the role of microfinance in empowering rural women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Development in Practice, 33(5), 623–639. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2023.2198201

Zafarullah, H., & Nawaz, F. (2019). Pathways to women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. Asian Education and Development Studies, 8(4), 387–404. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeds-11-2018-0168