Financial sustainability and poverty outreach within a network of village banks in Cameroon: A multi-DEA approach

Microfinance institutions face a double bottom-line. They perform financial tasks by giving microcredits to their customers and support projects aiming at reducing poverty. In doing so, they have to be financially self-sufficient and to target poor people excluded from the traditional financial systems. However, a trade-off may exist between financial sustainability and poverty outreach for these institutions. By using a multi-DEA approach, this paper shows that even if a trade-off exists for 15% of the MC² (Mutuelles Communautaires de Croissance) in Cameroon, there is no trade-off for 46% of them. In order to increase, without trade-off, financial and social performance of inefficient MC², a benchmarking approach combing DEA and performance indicators has been developed. DEA is used for identifying best-practices and setting benchmarking goals. Performance indicators are used for characterizing areas needing improvements and following the evolution of MC² toward their goals, i.e., for implementing benchmarking. Complementarity of both approaches provides a tool box for improving financial and social efficiency and reducing the trade-off between financial sustainability and poverty outreach of microfinance institutions.