Paper
Microfinance Market Survey in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
Do Palestinian microentrepreneurs express a need for microfinance?
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79 pages
This PlaNet Finance survey focuses on the financial needs of Palestinian microentrepreneurs under the ongoing financial and economic crisis. The survey provides information on:
- Palestinian microentrepreneurs and their activities;
- The demand for microfinance lending and non-lending services.
The survey of 1202 microentrepreneurs finds that:
- Palestinian microentrepreneurs lack access to financial services in the West Bank and Gaza strip (WBGS);
- The majority of businesses are in trade activities;
- About half of the microentrepreneurs operate in the informal sector;
- Decrease in profits and difficulties in collecting debts are their main problems;
- Most entrepreneurs respond to the crisis by reducing credit sales or delaying the payments of debts to suppliers.
The survey also finds that:
- The number of potential clients for lending services is 190,000, and the potential market size for microlending services is US $280 million in the WBGS;
- There is a mixed response for the need for credit, with 57% saying they need credit and 27% saying they do not;
- Microentrepreneurs need credit mainly for expanding their businesses, financing assets, working capital requirement and starting up new businesses;
- One-third of the interviewees state a demand for savings products, while insurance products interest one in two microentrepreneurs;
- The potential demand for Islamic loans is high in the WBGS.
The survey concludes with recommendations for microfinance providers, MFIs, donors and regulatory authorities.
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