Research Repository :: Browsing by Author "Mori, Neema"

Browsing by Author "Mori, Neema"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 40

Access to Business Development Support Services and Performance of Youth- Owned Enterprises in Tanzania
(2015) Mori, Neema
We investigated a sample of 3,098 randomly chosen youth-owned enterprises (YOEs) in Tanzania and studied their access to business development support (BDS) services. YOEs are defined as enterprises owned and run by young entrepreneurs, aged between sixteen and thirty-five, according to the Tanzanian definition of youth. We analyzed which BDS services affect the performance of YOEs in terms of (i) number of employees, (ii) whether the enterprise keeps financial records and (iii) the entrepreneurs’ perception of the performance of their enterprises. With the support of the resource- based view, we found that access to expert advice is positively associated with a YOE’s number of employees and their ability to keep financial records. We also found that access to business management training and entrepreneurship training positively influences financial record keeping and enterprises’ perceived performance. Overall, we conclude that the resources that young entrepreneurs obtain through their access to BDS services are crucial for their enterprises. Keywords: youth, business development services, YOEs, Tanzania.
Access to Finance for Smes in Tanzania
(2009) Mori, Neema
Board Committees and Performance in Microfinance Institutions: Evidence from Ethiopia
(2018) Dato, Muluneh; Mersland, Roy; Mori, Neema
This paper empirically relates subordinate board structures with improved financial and social performance in microfinance institutions (MFIs). The research question is analyzed using a panel data from 23 microfinance institutions in Ethiopia over a period of 2006— 2011. Random effects panel data estimation is applied to analyze the link between board committees and MFI's performance. In MFIs with larger than average boards, the findings demonstrate significant ties between financial and outreach performance and how their boards are structured. The structure of board committees moderates the relation between board size and financial and outreach performance measures. Importantly, board committee benefits MFIs through better operational self-sufficiency, lower operating expenses, greater outreach to customers, and outreach to poorer customers using average loan size as our proxy. Practitioners within microfinance sector, and those operating in advisory and regulatory roles to the sector could benefit from the argument advanced in the paper in that normative recommendation to restructure boards or establish committees requires reevaluating the board characteristics vis-à-vis the optimal monitoring, controlling, and advising needs of the institution. Prior literature focuses on who sits on boards, how large are the boards, and how independent are they. This paper advances our understanding of the structure of board committees and how this may affect the performance of MFI. This approach provides better representation of director's role and is thereby a good test of board effectiveness.
Board Composition and Outreach Performance of Microfinance Institutions: Evidence from East Africa
(Wiley, 2015) Mori, Neema; Golesorkhi, Sougand; Randøy, Trond; Hermes, Niels
The attributes of microfinance’s board members have an impact on attainment of their social objectives.
Board Composition and Social Performance of Microfinance Institutions: Evidence from East Africa
(Strategic Change, 2015) Mori, Neema; Gholersaki, Sougand; Randøy, Trond; Hermes, Niels
Board composition and poverty outreach of MFIs appear to be related. The proportion of independent, international, female, and/or founding board members appears to be associated with measures of outreach performance using data on MFIs in East Africa. Findings suggest that outreach performance is improved when MFI boards have a higher share of independent, international, and/or female members, which supports the hypothesis that board composition is important in helping MFIs to achieve their social objectives.
Boards in microfinance institutions: how do stakeholders matter?
(Springer, 2014) Mori, Neema; Mersland, Roy
Microfinance Institutions provide financial services to poor people. Governance of these organizations is important so that they can operate efficiently and sustainably. This study analyzes the influence of stakeholders (donors, employees, customers, and creditors), on board structure (board size and CEO duality), and on organizational performance. We use a global data set of 379 microfinance institutions from 73 countries, collected from rating organizations. Supported by stakeholder theory, agency theory and resource dependence theory, we find stakeholders to be important and have various influences on microfinance institutions. We find donors to be associated with small boards, non-duality and better performance. Employees are associated with large boards, while customers are associated with duality and good financial performance. Creditors opt for duality and better social performance. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.
Boards in Microfinance Organizations: Do Stakeholders Matter?
(2014) Mori, Neema; Mersland, Roy
Microfinance organizations provide financial services to low income people. Governance of these organizations is important for them to efficiently reach poor people and survive financially. Board is one among several governance mechanisms. This paper empirically analyses the influence of stakeholders who sit on boards, on financial and outreach results of microfinance organizations. Based on resource dependence and stakeholder theories, we analyze four types of stakeholders; donors, customers, employees and creditors. Results show that stakeholders are important in microfinance and that more non-profit organizations have donors on boards than for-profit organizations while customers and employees are found to be more represented on for-profit organizations. Regression results show that stakeholders through their resource provision role contribute both positively and negatively to financial and outreach results. Implications and areas for future research are further discussed.
Borrower Characteristics and Delinquency among Rural Based Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies in Tanzania.
(2016-08) Mori, Neema; Nyantori, Thadei; Olomi, Donath
This study examines the influence of economic and financial literacy on the delinquency and default rate of clients of rural Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (SACCOSs) in Tanzania. The data were collected from a random sample of 200 individual loan beneficiaries drawn from eight SACCOSs, and analysed using regression models. The findings established that the level of economic and financial literacy of rural borrowers is very low. The study also found a negative relationship between economic literacy and financial literacy, on the one hand, and default and delinquency, on the other. This suggests that borrowers’ inability to make prudent borrowing and investment decisions, rather than poor intentions, is the main explanation behind the failure to meet debt obligations. Therefore, conventional microfinance may be penalising those with the least human capital, who happen to be the poorest people. The findings underline the need to invest in enhancing the poor’s human capital to ensure sustainable financial deepening and a positive impact on poverty.
Customer information sharing and new service development: is there a link?
(Emerald, 2020-07-15) Busagara, Theresia; Mori, Neema; Jani, Dev; Mossberg, Lena; Andersson, Tommy
Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to establish the link between customer information sharing and new service development .Design/methodology/approach–Through a survey of tourism firms, 295 questionnaires were collected in three large tourism locations in Tanzania. Thereafter, the hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling (SEM) after undertaking both factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis Findings–Results indicate that there is a positive association/link between customer information sharing and new service development. The link here expresses the association that exists as customers share information and the extent of use of this information for the firm benefit in facilitating new service development. Specifically, customers post service information and customer interaction behaviors positively support new service development; however, customers pre-service information revealed no link.Practical implications–These results offer practical evidence that post service information and interaction behaviors form the groundwork for development of new services in service-related organizations. Originality/value–These results evidence that customer post service information and customer interaction behaviors form the groundwork for development new services in tourism. Hence, the study strengthens the value co-creation and innovation views in the service arena by extending knowledge in the use of both the service and the customer environment for service improvement.
Determinants of Board Structure in Microfinance Institutions: Evidence from East Africa
(SAGE Publications, 2013) Mori, Neema; Randøy, Trond; Golesorkhi, Sougand
This study investigates the association between the unique characteristics of microfinance institutions and board structure. The agency and resource dependence theories provided theoretical guidance for this study. Using a panel dataset of 63 microfinance institutions in East Africa, we found that the presence of regulations and international influence is associated with larger boards, while the presence of founders is associated with small boards and less board independence. There is a higher level of board gender diversity in microfinance institutions managed by founders. There is greater diversity of nationalities in microfinance institutions that are internationally influenced. The implications for practice and theory from this study are further discussed.
Determinants of customers’ adoption of mobile banking in Tanzania: Further evidence from a diffusion of innovation theory
(2020) Mori, Neema; Mlambiti, Rosallia
The main goal of this study was to examine the influence of demographic factors on the adoption of innovative mobile banking services in Tanzania. It utilized Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DIT) to ascertain the importance of situation-based demographic factors. A survey was conducted with 416 customers of a leading bank in Tanzania. The study applied self-administered questionnaires completed by the respondents who had agreed to participate. The data were analyzed using a combination of descriptive and multivariate analyses. The descriptive results revealed that the majority of respondents used mobile banking once to three times a week to check their balance, download a mini-statement, pay different bills, transfer funds from their account to a mobile telecom network, and buy airtime. The regression results further showed a positive and significant relationship between level of income and education attainment on the one hand and the adoption of mobile banking on the other. The study argues that promotional practices and awareness-raising campaigns are needed to capture the demographic profiles of customers in order to encourage them to adopt mobile banking. Theoretically, the study has shown the relevance of applying the situation-based theory to the adoption of innovative technologies as regards banking services in Tanzania. It also broadens our understanding of the importance of demographic factors that have received little attention from the dominant socio-psychological theories.
Determinants of Individual Savings among Tanzanians
(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2019) Mori, Neema
Purpose Savings help to provide for future personal and households needs. The purpose of this paper examined Tanzanians’ determinants of saving. It studied the relationship between individual characteristics (gender, marital status, age, education level and financial education) and saving behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The paper used 2017 national baseline survey data with 8,959 observations from all over Tanzania. Descriptive analysis and econometric models were used to test the developed hypotheses. Findings Descriptive results show that Tanzanians mainly associate saving with setting money aside to keep it safe for future use. The results also show that most Tanzanians keep their money at home – a very informal way of saving. The results indicate that age and education level are key characteristics that determine positive saving by Tanzanians. Research limitations/implications This study used FinScope survey data which was limited to Tanzania. Since FinScope surveys are done in other African countries, using similar methodologies, it would be interesting to investigate similar trends in other contexts. Practical implications The study recommends promoting awareness of saving in formal institutions. This will benefit not only customers but the financial institutions and mobile telecom companies themselves. Originality/value This study contributes to the life-cycle theory by showing how families, societies and exposures influence individuals to save. Gender and marital status seem to play a lesser role than social- and exposure-related aspects of age and education. Exposure and social interactions are key determinants in the attitude to saving.
Directors’ Diversity and Board Performance: Evidence from East African Microfinance Institutions
(Journal of African Business, 2014) Mori, Neema
Active board participation is one of the main challenges faced by microfinance institu- tions. This article sets out to explore the effect of board of directors’ characteristics (age, gender, and education) on their ability to effectively perform their board roles (monitor- ing and resource provision). Microfinance policy makers are concerned with the role of boards in terms of the performance of the industry. This study used the agency theory and resource dependence theory to test the relationship between directors’ characteris- tics and boards’ performance. The empirical analysis is based on a survey conducted with 105 board directors representing 63 microfinance institutions from three East Afri- can countries (Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda). The results show a positive relationship between directors’ age and their ability to monitor and provide the board with resources. The study also shows that the effect of directors’ level of education on boards’ performance is positive, while no evidence was found with regard to the effect of female directors on boards. The findings imply that board directors need to be appointed based on their personal characteristics and their ability to perform their roles.
Effect of Debtors on Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises
(2018) Richard, Evelyn; Mori, Neema
The paper assesses effect of credit sales on performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania using the credit risk management perspective. Asymmetric information and trade-off theory of liquidity guided the study whereby a dataset of 6,134 Tanzanian SMEs was used. Descriptive and regression methods were used as analyses techniques. Results confirm that majority of SMEs sell on credit (54%). Despite efforts they put into managing their debtors, 26 percent of them default. The results further showed that SMEs incur relatively high costs when managing debtors, an aspect, which hampers their performance. Costs incurred relate to financing, administration and moral hazards problems. The paper contributes to asymmetric information and trade- off of liquidity theories by showing how the relationship between SMEs and debtors can be hampered by ex-post asymmetric information whereby debtors decide to act in their own interests but against seller's interests, a pattern, which contravenes terms of their contracts. The study highlights main challenges faced by SMEs while managing debtors. Bad debts put pressure on SMEs’ cash flow thereby limiting growth of their businesses. Education level was seen to be important when managing debtors.
Effect of partner–agent model practice on microinsurance client value: Insight from microfinance institutions in Tanzania
(2018-02) Minani, Isidore; Ishengoma, Esther; Mori, Neema
Abstract: In absence of formal microinsurance to protect low-income people against natural and man-made disasters, the partnership between insurance companies and microfinance institutions (MFIs), also known as the Partner–Agent Model (PAM), is gaining global recognition from governments, practitioners, and donors for its poten- tial role to deliver microinsurance. Although the model is still nascent in Tanzania, it has significantly increased microinsurance outreach. However, while the microinsur- ance landscape has been extensively studied, the effect of PAM practice on manda- tory microinsurance client value has not received much attention. Therefore, this study examines how the PAM practice affects microinsurance client value dimen- sions. Surveys were used to collect quantitative data from 229 managers of MFIs involved in PAM, randomly selected from 10 regions in Tanzania. The study applies structural equation modeling, particularly the regression analysis, to examine the effect of PAM practice on the appropriateness, accessibility, affordability, and respon- siveness of PAM microinsurance services. Study findings indicate that though the PAM practice has a statistically significant positive effect on microinsurance client value, the client value does not score well on its four dimensions. Improvement and regulation of PAM practice is recommended to foster microinsurance client value.
Effects of boards on performance of local and foreign-owned banks in Tanzania
(Emerald, 2017-01) Mori, Neema; Towo, Goodluck
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of board composition on the profitability of banks in Tanzania. First, it examines the differences between local and foreign-owned banks in terms of their boards and profitability, and then the contribution of board composition to banks’ profitability. Design/methodology/approach The paper utilizes a secondary panel data set of information on the boards, their operations and financial statements of 35 banks. The data were collected between 2009 and 2013. The authors tested the stated hypotheses using descriptive and econometric analyses. Findings The results show a significant difference in board composition and profitability between local and foreign-owned banks. Local banks have a higher income and profits. With their contextual knowledge they are able to attract diverse board directors who contribute positively to their performance. The paper also found that large boards and those with women on them were associated with high profitability. Research limitations/implications The study focused on three aspects of boards, which are size, foreign directors and women’s representation. The paper is limited in the sense that other aspects of composition that also affect performance are not included in the study. Practical implications The paper suggests that in order to maximize profitability, banks should increase the number of directors. Many board members can share skills and knowledge, which can improve performance. Women are underrepresented on boards. With current changes in policy and education in emerging countries, there is a need to increase their representation. Originality/value This study contributes to the agency theory by showing that large boards are indeed efficient at monitoring and bringing in profits, especially in an emerging economy where there are multifaceted risks at country and company level. These risks require shareholders and investors to have a much better understanding of the banks and that is where a large board plays a key role.
Effects of Collateral on Loan Repayment: Evidence from an Informal Lending Institution
(Taylor & Francis, 2016-05-03) Urassa, Goodluck C.; Mori, Neema
We examine the effect of the collateral informal lenders use to ensure loan repayment. Specifically we measure how the use of movable and immovable assets affects loan repayment and delinquency rate, and assess the extent to which guarantorship and relationship-lending act as collateral to improve loan repayment. With a dataset of 835 individual borrowers drawn from an informal Tanzanian lending institution, we run descriptive and econometric models. The results suggest that movable assets increase the likelihood that borrowers perceived to be less creditworthy will obtain loans from informal sources and repay them. We also find a small proportion of customers to have pledged immovable assets as collateral when borrowing from informal lenders. The results also show the positive effect of referral, which implies that relationship lending and social collateral is key to increasing access to finance through informal lenders. Our results contribute to the advancement of economic theory, specifically in the ex-ante and ex-post-related literature.
Effects Of Collateral On Loan Repayment: Evidence From An Informal Lending Institution
(Taylor and Francis, 2016) Charles, Goodluck; Mori, Neema
We examine the effect of the collateral informal lenders use to ensure loan repayment. Specifically we measure how the use of movable and immovable assets affects loan repayment and delinquency rate, and assess the extent to which guarantorship and relationship-lending act as collateral to improve loan repayment. With a dataset of 835 individual borrowers drawn from an informal Tanzanian lending institution, we run descriptive and econometric models. The results suggest that movable assets increase the likelihood that borrowers perceived to be less creditworthy will obtain loans from informal sources and repay them. We also find a small proportion of customers to have pledged immovable assets as collateral when borrowing from informal lenders. The results also show the positive effect of referral, which implies that relationship lending and social collateral is key to increasing access to finance through informal lenders. Our results contribute to the advancement of economic theory, specifically in the ex-ante and ex-post-related literature.
Effects Of Collateral On Loan Repayment: Evidence From An Informal Lending Institution
(Routledge, 2016-04-07) Charles, Goodluck; Mori, Neema
We examine the eﬀect of the collateral informal lenders use to ensure loan repayment. Speciﬁcally we measure how the use of movable and immovable assets aﬀects loan repayment and delinquency rate, and assess the extent to which guarantorship and relationship-lending act as collateral to improve loan repayment. With a dataset of 835 individual borrowers drawn from an informal Tanzanian lending institution, we run descriptive and econometric models. The results suggest that movable assets increase the likelihood that borrowers perceived to be less creditworthy will obtain loans from informal sources and repay them. We also ﬁnd a small proportion of customers to have pledged immovable assets as collateral when borrowing from informal lenders. The results also show the positive eﬀect of referral, which implies that relationship lending and social collateral is key to increasing access to ﬁnance through informal lenders. Our results contribute to the advancement of economic theory, speciﬁcally in the ex-ante and ex-postrelated literature.
An Exploratory Study on Corporate Governance Practices of the Selected Oil and and Gas Companies in TanzaniaTANZANIA
(University of Dar es Salaam, 2019) Mzenzi, Siasa; Mori, Neema; Kurt, Alfred
The main objective of this study was to explore the governance practices of ten oil and gas companies operating in Tanzania. Using content analysis of annual reports of the studied companies, the study sought to particularly examine board structure and composition as well as functioning of the board and audit committees. The findings revealed that given the size and scale of operations, the number of board members in the studied oil and gas companies ranged from six to eleven and most of these board members were foreigners. In terms of gender, most companies had both male and female members in the board of directors, with an exception of two companies which had all male members on their boards. Also, the number of executive and non-executive directors varied from one company to another, the majority being non-executive directors. Findings further revealed that all CEOs were executive members of the board; however, they were not chairpersons. In addition, board meetings were being conducted and the practice of board evaluation was noted for some companies. The audit committees of the studied companies were found to be effective in assisting the board to discharge its financial oversight roles. Our findings support both the Agency Theory and Resource Dependency Theory.

Browsing by Author "Mori, Neema"

Results Per Page

Sort Options