THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF MICRO FINANCE INSTITUTIONS (MFIS) INTO DEPOSIT TAKING MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The Micro finance institutions (MFIs) play a critical role in poverty alleviation, financial inclusion and economic empowerment of the financially disadvantaged people. Microfinance refers to the provision of financial services to the low income people who are often excluded from accessing mainstream commercial financial services providers. Amongst the services offered by MFIs include microcredit, micro savings, micro insurance, deposits, loans, payment services, money transfers, and insurance to poor and low-income households and, their micro enterprises. Due to operational and market dynamics, the MFIs across the world have often felt a need to transform. This study sought to examine the influence of leadership on the transformation of Micro Finance Institutions (MFIS) Into Deposit Taking Microfinance Institutions In Nakuru County, Kenya. This study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population of this study is the staff working in Microfinance institutions in Nakuru town. A sample size of 83 respondents was utilized. The study concluded that leadership positively influences the success of transformation of MFIs to DTMs on its own. In this context, the study concluded that delegation of tasks had greater influence on the success of transformation of MFIs to DTMs than other metrics due to its high mean. The study recommends that more emphasis be placed on the delegation of tasks because these aspects generally had greater influence in respect to their means.