Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco

Abstract

Women's empowerment is one of the biggest barriers to progress in Morocco, since women continue to constitute the majority of disadvantaged and marginalized groups, particularly in rural areas. Our contribution is to evaluate the impact of participation in a microfinance institution (MFI) on women’s empowerment in the rural commune of Aoufous, located in the Errachidia province (Morocco). It is divided into two sections. First, it compares the empowerment of women who participate in a MFI to women who do not participate in any MFI. Second, it examines whether loan amount, length of membership, income-generating activities and household income, influence the overall empowerment index among MFI participants. To do this, an overall empowerment index is constructed employing five dimensions of empowerment: economic decision-making, household decision-making, freedom of movement, political and social awareness and ownership of assets. Then a regression analysis is carried out using primary data collected from a sample of 76 women (33 members and 46 non-members) from the research region. Our findings indicate that participation in the microcredit program has a significant and positive role in determining the overall empowerment index. Furthermore, the loan amounts as well as engagement in income-generating activities are significant determinants of women empowerment. According to the findings of our study, MFIs play an essential role in women’s empowerment.