Cull, RobertHarten, SvenNishida, IppeiBull, Greta2014-10-022014-10-022014-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/20331In recent years there has been a rapid increase in the presence and growth of greenfield microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper uses regressions to benchmark those African greenfields relative to other microfinance providers and finds that greenfields grew faster in terms of deposits and lending, improved their profitability to levels comparable to the top microfinance institutions, and substantially increased their lending to women. The effects were especially strong for greenfields that followed a consultant-led model to establish a deep retail banking presence spanning multiple countries, including the creation of extensive branch networks. Although their loan sizes are somewhat larger than those of most African microfinance institutions, indicating less outreach to the poorest market segments, greenfields have achieved rapid gains in financial inclusion on a broad scale.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICESACCOUNTINGACQUISITIONACQUISITIONSAFFILIATESAFFORDABLE PRICESASSET VALUESBALANCE SHEETSBANK COMPETITIONBANK CREDITBANK LENDINGBANK MERGERSBANK POLICYBANK SPREADSBANKING MARKETSBANKING SECTORSBANKING SYSTEMSBANKSBORROWINGBORROWING COSTSBRANCH NETWORKSBROAD ACCESSCAPITAL COSTCAPITAL COSTSCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL INVESTMENTSCOLLATERALCOMMERCIAL BANKSCOOPCOOPERATIVESCOOPSCORPORATIONCREDIT ALLOCATIONCREDIT LEVELCREDIT RISKSCREDIT UNIONCREDIT UNIONSCREDITWORTHINESSCROSS-BORDER BANKINGDEBTDEPENDENTDEPOSITDEPOSITORSDEPOSITSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT BANKDEVELOPMENT FINANCEDEVELOPMENT FINANCE INSTITUTIONSDOMESTIC BANKDOMESTIC BANKINGDOMESTIC BANKSDUMMY VARIABLEDUMMY VARIABLESEIBEMERGING MARKETSEXCLUSIONEXTERNAL BORROWINGFEMALE BORROWERSFEMALE CLIENTSFINANCE CORPORATIONFINANCESFINANCIAL ACCESSFINANCIAL DEPTHFINANCIAL HEALTHFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL MARKETFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL PERFORMANCEFINANCIAL RESTRUCTURINGFINANCIAL SELF-SUFFICIENCYFOREIGN BANKFOREIGN BANK ENTRYFOREIGN BANK PARTICIPATIONFOREIGN BANKSFOREIGN ENTRYFUNDING SOURCESGOOD CREDITHIGH INTEREST RATESHIGHER CAPITAL COSTSHOLDINGHOLDING COMPANIESHOLDING COMPANYHOLDINGSHOST COUNTRIESHOST COUNTRYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RESOURCESINCOME LEVELSINDIVIDUAL LIABILITYINFLATIONINFLATION RATEINTEREST INCOMEINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATE SPREADSINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINVESTINGINVESTMENT BANKINVESTMENT PROJECTSINVESTMENT VEHICLESLEGAL FRAMEWORKLIABILITYLIMITEDLOANLOAN LOSSLOAN PORTFOLIOLOAN PORTFOLIO QUALITYLOAN PORTFOLIOSLOAN SIZELOAN SIZESLOANS TO INDIVIDUALSLONG-TERM LIABILITIESMARKET COMPETITIONMARKET CONCENTRATIONMARKET DEVELOPMENTMFIMFISMICROFINANCEMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONSMOBILE PHONEMULTINATIONALMULTINATIONAL BANKSNON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSNON-PERFORMING LOANSNPLOPERATING COSTOPERATING COSTSOPERATING EXPENSESOUTREACHPOOR BORROWERSPOTENTIAL BORROWERSPRIVATIZATIONPRODUCTIVITYPROFITABILITYPROXYRESERVESRESTRUCTURING PROCESSESRETAIL BANKINGRETURNRETURN ON ASSETSRURAL BANKRURAL BANKSSAVINGSSHAREHOLDERSMALL LOANSSOFT LOANSSPONSORSPONSORSSTART-UPSSUBSIDIARIESTERMS OF LOANSTOTAL BORROWINGTRANSITION COUNTRIESWOMEN BORROWERS10.1596/1813-9450-7029