Microfinance Institution and its Impact on Poverty Reduction in Cameroon : A Case Study on Two Selected Institutions.

Tebah, Claude 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2016 국내석사

One of the most challenges facing the Cameroon government is the issue of poverty reduction. The poverty rate in the country is still high and the government has a vision of making Cameroon an emerging country by the year 2035. In the quest for a solution to the country's development challenges and the poverty issue, microfinance is seen as a good option to be considered since they can offer credit facilities to the poor at low interest rates compared to conventional banks, thus breaking the credit barrier faced by the poor. This case study was designed to assess the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction. A purposive sample of one hundred (100) microfinance clients were selected but eighty-two (82) were valid, and four (4) staffs from the MFIs under this study were interviewed on an interviewer assisted questionnaire. The clients targeted for the research are those who have taken micro loans so that a comparison of their poverty level before and after using the micro loan can be made and hence we can know whether there is any reduction in poverty after using micro loan or not. Results of the study revealed that microfinance led to an increase in income, which enabled the poor to be able to send their children to school, feed their families, save more thus improving their standard of living and reducing poverty. Also, most women felt empowered economically, politically but not socially as they were not able to participate in decision making in the community where men are involve. MFIs turn to ignore the poorest of the poor who are most affected by poverty because they are consider as high risk, thus in order for microfinance to be an effective tool in poverty reduction, factors like good infrastructure, well functioning markets, and government intervention is highly recommended.

EFFECTS OF EAC AGREEMENT ON TANZANIA’S EXPORTS

BILALI MUSSA ATHUMANI 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2016 국내석사

ABSTRACT As the EAC reformed again after the collapse of the former one in 1977,the needs to see as weather the new East Africa integration has impact on trade to members economic growth become inevitable study and attract much of interest among of the researchers and policy makers. There are many researches since 1990s which describe the impact on regional trade agreement with trade flows of which the important focus based on trade creation and trade diversion. This paper employs study that focus on investigating the effects of exports trade to Tanzania by being a member of EAC agreement. An econometric model of multiplicative gravity for 22 countries including EAC partner state of which Tanzania has trade agreement were used. The study carried out over the time period of 13 years (2000 to 2013) to assess the impact on exports trade to Tanzania by being in EAC agreement. The results finds existence of a positive and significant impact on Tanzania exports trade by being a member of EAC as compared to non members countries .The empirical result also show positively and significant coefficient on other economic variable and dummy SADC of which Tanzania also has trade agreement . The effect of EAC exports trade of which is a focus of this study is significant and provides meaningful effect for Tanzania exports. The results of our finding have been contributed by closeness between the EAC countries, long-time history of regional integration since 1967 before collapse of former EAC in 1977 and peace exists within the region which helps to assure the good environment to trade.The variable introduces under the gravity equation support the model in providing the significant empirical results that acknowledge an existence of trade creation for the members of EAC (Tanzania) and trade diversion for countries which are not members of EAC. The study recommends that, Tanzania should continue on its membership on EAC agreement by creating more opportunities for her products within the region through the existence of reliable market. Also this study recommend the issues such as NTBs, harmonization of tariffs and export promotion building capacity which should be address to overcome some challenges in order to deepen the EAC integration

ADOPTION OF MPESA AND IT’S IMPACTS ON PROFITABILITY OF SMES IN KENYA : CASE STUDY-NAKURU TOWN

HARRIET MUKAMI NYAKI 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2018 국내석사

A lot of research has been done on the effect of mobile money on efficiency of and outreach of micro-finance loans in developing countries. Yet to date, there has been only few quantitative test to show the factors driving the acceptance of mobile- money service, and whether the level of acceptance has any significant effect on the performance of small and micro-businesses in Kenya. This study investigated factors determining the acceptance of M-PESA service and the effect of M-pesa Service on small and micro-businesses in Kenya. It further investigated the challenges facing M-PESA users in Kenya. The study adopted a survey and case study design on a sample of 1220 small and micro-business operators in Nakuru town in Kenya. ANOVA tests was used to show whether there are differences in average acceptance of the M-PESA service among consumers who had different views regarding: perceived ease of use, social influence, facilitating conditions and trust i.e security of the service. Regression analysis was used to show the actual effect of the acceptance of M-Pesa on small and micro-business performance. Results indicated that, there is a significant difference in acceptance of M-pesa by traders who had: reported different perceived ease of use, social influence, facilitating conditions by the provider and security of the system when transferring money. After controlling for the factors that influences performance, regression results indicated that, acceptance of M-pesa slightly had a positive significant effect on the performance. Security of money transactions, sending money to the wrong persons and lack of electronic money float were identified as challenges facing M-PESA service users and agents in Kenya. The knowledge generated in this study is important to the business community in Kenya and Mobile money service providers in Kenya. A conclusion can be reached that M-Pesa is an intervention in business world that has contributed to improvement in performance of small and micro-business in Kenya. The recommendation is that micro-businesses should embrace mobile banking, for it is an intervention that will go a long way in improving lives for Kenyans.

Bangladesh’s Garments Industry : a SWOT Analysis and Comparative Study with Vietnam

ALAM, MOHAMMAD KHAIRUL 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2017 국내석사

Garments industry is considered the life line of the economy and an important area in the development policy of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has set its vision in 2014 to achieve 50 billion US dollar exports earnings from garments sector by 2021.In recent years; global clothing export market has become very competitive. On the other hand, the growth of Bangladesh’s garments sector has been surrounded by a number of difficulties. This study has identified several issues linked to weak infrastructures, low labour productivity, poorly performed compliance, instability in politics as the key challenges to achieve the goal .After analyzing the rapidly growing garments industry of Vietnam, the findings have suggested that only based on low wage rate, cheaper price and better market access facilities, garments sector could not gain expected growth rate. Like Vietnam, Bangladesh’s garments exporters and Governments policy makers should take necessary steps in order to reduce lead time and power crisis, increase labour productivity, and improve compliance standards and political situation.

(AN) APPRAISAL OF THE INFLUENCE OF TOURISM ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF CAMEROON

ENOW, CHARLES PIUS AGBOR 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2017 국내석사

This paper examines the relationship between tourism development and its influence on the socio-economic development of Cameroon with emphasis on a comparative analysis of this influence in the two large distinct regions of the country that is the North and South. The Cameroon government has for so many years neglected the tourism sector as an agent of development in favor of sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, mineral exploitation and services. It was not until the last two decades that tourism became enlisted in the government agenda as a priority even though still on a lower scale. It is on this premise that this study pays particular attention to the marginalization of the local people in the regions with the touristic potentials who ironically are those with the lowest level of socio-economic development despite their rich touristic potentials. This research goes on to show that tourism and socio-economic development are intricately related and as such tourism can be used as a new and more efficient tool for the socio-economic development of the regions concerned in particular and the whole country in general. The study did not however ignore the great challenges facing the development of the tourism industry in Cameroon and the problems encountered by the local people when trying to integrate them into the industry. The outcome of this study is generalized so as to depict what Cameroon needs to do to develop a vibrant tourism industry which meets the socio-economic needs of its local people. The study concludes that tourism is an agent of socio-economic development and it suggest that the tourism sector should be strengthened through increased partnership between the government and local communities in order to attract more visitors to Cameroon.

Toward more efficient functioning for Egyptian commercial service ( KOTRA case study )

AHMED HASSAN ABDELRAOUF ELKORDY 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2018 국내석사

It is widely believed that Export promotion Agency plays a vital role in increasing exports values, and a substantial body of studies examined its effect on trade. Egypt has been passing through an economic downturn and export promotion is one of new administration priorities to improve economic situation, Egyptian Commercial Service (ECS) is a governmental body which undertake such role , the current study focus on identifying the challenges that hinder optimum performance for ECS and setting a policy recommendation to overcome those challenges. , Based on the extensive interviews with ECS members & business community it is found that challenges include poor online services ,outdated archiving methods , human resources shortage, inefficient training methods, limited budget, weak business community cooperation & competitiveness of Egyptian products, isolated island concept and general inherited challenges in public sector. The challenges are classified into two parts: one under the control of ECS and the other mainly under the control of other party. The former of the two is the target of the study. The policy recommendation is derived through the interview with KOTRA staff members, and it includes setting a training programs based on work needs, initiating a global computerized system as an alternative for manual archiving methods, launching an interactive platform to provide online services and emphasizing specialization concept through a gradual plan to achieve task allocation within offices abroad and setting a more efficient KPI to measure ECS performance Key words: ECS, KOTRA, EPA, EGYPT,ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES, TRADE DIPLOMACY, 

The Impact of Micro Finance Loan Disbursement On Economic Growth of Cameroon

EWULE ELVIS JASSAH 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2018 국내석사

This study is designed to capture the impact of microfinance loan disbursement on economic growth taking Buea Police Cooperative Credit Union Limited (BUPCCUL) as a case study. To achieve this objective, data was collected from annual report of Buea police cooperative credit union limited(BUPCCUL) over the period of 16 years that is from 1992-2007 on the following variables; GDP as the dependent variable and loan disbursement of Buea police cooperative credit union Limited(BUPCCUL) as the independent variable. After empirically analyzing the data using the ordinary least square techniques, we show whether loan disbursement by BUPCCUL does significantly affect economic growth. To increase our explanatory power, we increase our independent variables by adding variables like saving, loan delinquency, and lending rate in our study.

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT THROUGH COOPERATIVE : Case Study of Maharani Jodha Jhapa District Nepal

KC, KAMALA 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2016 국내석사

The Thesis entitled “women empowerment through cooperative” (A Sociological study of Maharani Jhoda Co-operative Society, Maharani Jhoda VDC Jhapa, Nepal). Objective of the study is to find the role of co-operatives to empower the women in Nepal. The objective of the study is study of the socio-economic status of women who are related to Maharani Jhoda Co-operative Society. 50 respondents were taken who were the members of Maharani Jhoda Saving and Credit Co-operative Society through purposive sampling method. Based on their information, analysis of data was conducted. Questions were asked to the respondents who were the current member of the Maharani Jhoda Saving and Credit Co-operative Society. In the course of study it was found that the Co-operatives is playing the vital role to empower the women and it has the responsibility of providing financial as well as technical assistance to the women for generating income so co-operatives is taken as a device to make equal between male and female. Sampled co-operative was able to meet the women empowerment especially basic empowerment of women. The activities of Maharani Jhoda Saving and Credit Co-operative Society were found effective members were empowered for increasing the life standard by financial activities of Maharani Jhoda Saving and Credit Co-operative Society at individual and household levels. More members were satisfied to the financial function of Maharani Jhoda Saving and Credit Co-operative Society. The sampled co-operative used to give different kind of training also to its members for different sectors. This study mainly focused for the empowerment of the women through the financial activities of saving and credit co-operatives which help to generate incoming source and to make male and female equal in society.

MAJOR SOURCES OF PERSISTENT TRADE DEFICIT IN ETHIOPIA

GUGSA TEMESGEN MULUGETA 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2016 국내석사

Ethiopia has been experiencing persistent negative trade balance in its economy for a long period. To get the overview of this title, different previous studies were reviewed under literature and the results were found to be mixed in different countries. So, this study was designed to examine major sources of persistent trade deficit in Ethiopian economy. In the analysis, trade balance (TB) which is export value minus import value was chosen as dependent variable and domestic income (GDPD), real exchange rate (ER), an average income of top trading partners (GDPT), money supply (M2) and foreign direct investment (FDI) were chosen as explanatory variables. Data of each variable collected annually over the period 1982 to 2012. To avoid the non-stationarity or trending behavior of variables over time, unit root test was conducted using ADF tool and all variables found to be stationary at their first difference. Ordinary least square (OLS) method was used to estimate the relationship between trade balances and its determinants and analysis were done by using STATA 13 software. The general short run regression results showed that income of domestic residents, trading partner's income and foreign direct investment significant in determining trade balance at 5 percent level of significance. Real exchange rate found to be insignificant while money supply growth significant at 10% level of significance. Finally, income of domestic residents, foreign direct investment (in the short-run) and money supply in the economy were found to be major sources of persistent negative trade balance of Ethiopia.

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF GHANA TRADE POLICY (2005) : A DIFFERENCE-IN-DIFFERENCE APPROACH

OPOKU MICHAEL AKURANG 아주대학교 Graduate School of International Studies Ajo 2016 국내석사

Analyzing bilateral trade between Ghana and 90 countries, the study uses a panel setting of the difference-in-difference method (with heteroskedasticity-robust fixed effects) to estimate the impact of the trade policy (export-led industrialization policy) which was implemented in 2005 on exports and total trade. A chow test is conducted to confirm the presence of a structural break before and after the implementation of the trade policy. Considering the fact that only a few (about 5) bilateral trade agreements were concluded between Ghana and other countries, the study assumes a natural control for tariff reductions and focuses on other trade costs. The studies shows negative relationship between trade costs and exports and total trade, with the trade policy leading to increase in exports and expansion of trade. With increase in bilateral trade agreements leading to reduction in tariffs, this calls for a more important focus on other non-tariff measures and measures to improve value addition.