摘要
Sudan is among those developing countries characterized by high incidence of poverty in spite of its prodigious resource endowments. Sudan government has continued to introduce programmes aiming at alleviation of poverty which were generally characterized by a lack of effectiveness. The traditional approach towards poverty reduction centered on national development programmes designed to enhance economic growth and improve standards of living. In addition, the Islamic institution of Zakat was utilized to help poor families start income-generating projects. However, recently, a more ambitious poverty-focused microcredit programme was laid forth. Thus, billions of dollars were earmarked for microcredit to help the poor obtain investible resources which can be directed towards starting income-generating projects. This paper argues that today, there is no shortage of funds earmarked for microfinance in Sudan. But the prevailing institutional inadequacies would not allow such substantial outlays to have much impact on poverty reduction. This paper reviews the history of microcredit and microfinance in the country, highlights the roles of different institutions in provision of microcredit, attempts to figure out its possible policy outputs, and finally makes some suggestions to overcome the evident shortcomings.
