The Gender Impact of Microfinance : The Case of Wekembe in Uganda

Microfinance industry has grown massively in the past decades. Even if it is commonly considered as an important development tool, the evidence of the socio-economic impact of microfinance is mixed, regardless of what methodology has been applied. The purpose of this study is to assess the socio-economic impact of microfinance on the clients of a microfinance program in Uganda, named Wekembe. To do so, we have conducted a survey on 294 Wekembe's clients and we have used the survey results to build a dataset, which by means of different methodologies - controlling also for selection bias by means of a generalized propensity score (GPS) matching technique - allows us to analyse the impact of microfinance on Wekembe clients' savings and women clients'empowerment