Advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): An Analysis of How Non- Financial Services of Microfinance Insitutions Facilitate Human Capital Development of Clients in Ghana

Abstract

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, together with seventeen goals that are collectively called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study examined the effects of non-financial microfinance services on human capital development of clients and discusses its implications on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The case is drawn from Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT), which is a microfinance institution of Ghana. Primary data were collected from 361 clients in seven districts of the Ashanti Region, Ghana. The results of the ordinary least square (OLS) regression showed that non-financial services offered by SAT had positive significance on human capital development of the clients. This finding shows how additional services from microfinance institution could help clients to maximise the value of loans offered to support income-generating economic activities. For clients, the study also draws attention to the need for them to take non-financial services offered by microfinance institutions seriously to improve on their own human capital development in the context of the SDGs.