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小额信贷是一个相对较新的概念，在过去十年中成倍增长，投资者，捐助者和银行意识到资本的潜力。在过去，人们认为，穷人没有获得银行服务，因为他们只能够取出小的贷款，并没有抵押品。在孟加拉的乡村银行，开始银行给穷人第一，证明了不仅是穷人的银行，但在非正式部门的小额信贷可以相当有利可图。自那时以来，小额信贷机构如雨后春笋遍布世界各地，达数百万穷人
在大多数发展中国家，贫困具有多方面的特征。由于就业机会有限，人均收入水平较低，贫困水平相对较高。贫困不仅是一种低收入的现象，它也是一种现象，质量差，有限的基本服务，如教育，医疗保健，水，住房和污水处理。在贫困和不平等方面，城乡之间存在很大的差异。扶贫已被宣布为所有执政党的主要宏观经济目标，但他们的努力仍然非常有限。

Microfinance is a relatively new concept that has grown exponentially in the last decade as investors, donors, and banks realise the potential for capital that can be made by banking to the poor. In the past it was assumed that poor people were not having access to the banking services since they were only capable of taking out small loans, and had no collateral. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the first to start banking to the poor, proved that not only is the poor bankable, but Microfinance in the informal sector can be quite profitable. Since then microfinance institutions have sprung up all over the world and reached millions of poor people (Simanowitz and Walter, 2002)

Poverty has multidimensional characteristics in most developing countries. The level of poverty is relatively high due to the fact that employment opportunities are limited and average income level is low. Poverty is not only a phenomenon of low income; it is also a phenomenon of the poor quality and limited access to basic services like education, healthcare, water, shelter, and sewerage. In terms of poverty and inequality, large differences exist between rural and urban areas. Poverty alleviation has been declared as the main macroeconomic objective of all ruling parties, but their efforts have remained very limited in achieving this objective.

Some available evidence suggests that the first credit union in Africa was probably established in Northern Ghana in 1955 by the Canadian Catholic missionaries that were there at the time. However, Susu, which is one of the current microfinance schemes in Ghana, is thought to have originated in Nigeria and spread to Ghana from the early 1900s. Over the years, the microfinance sector has thrived and evolved into its current state thanks to various financial sector policies and programmes such as the provision of subsidized credits, establishment of rural and community banks (RCBs), the liberalization of the financial sector and the promulgation of PNDC Law 328 of 1991, that allowed the establishment of different types of non-bank financial institutions, including savings and loans companies, finance houses, and credit unions etc. (Nissanke et al., 1998).

Providing women with access to credit can turn around an entire economy and is proven to be more beneficial than providing credit to men for two reasons.

First, there is significant evidence that when a woman's business succeeds and she makes profit, it goes to her family, while men typically give only 50-70% of their income to their families (Grasmuck and Espinal 2000:240).). Men are more likely to use funds on leisure. They are also more mobile, and therefore more likely to default on loans. Studies show that children are better educated and cared for when women contribute income to the family (Grasmuck and Espinal, 2000). According to the Women's Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund reports women's increased income benefits their children, particularly in education, diet, healthcare, and clothing (Cheston and Kuhn, 2002).

Second, women are less risky in terms of loa