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Top1. Introduction
There has been a growing emphasis on using microfinance as a tool for enhancing financial inclusion, reducing poverty and maintaining sustainable development of societies. The basic assumption is that microfinance has the potential to enhance production in different sectors such as education, environment, healthcare, agriculture and small-scale revenue generating activities. Many members of the society lack access to funds due to high transaction and monitoring costs, lengthy documentation, high defaults, collateralised lending and leakage of subsidised resources. As a result, different types of microfinance institutions (MFIs) (such as non-profit organizations, peer-to-peer lending markets, commercial banks and community banks) are becoming highly engaged in the provision of microfinance services. Despite the variety of the microfinance services provided by each institution, the list of the most widely cited services includes saving services, micro-credit, micro- insurance, money transfers and small loans and technical assistance. The basic aim behind the provision of such services is toassist financially-excluded, economically-active and capable members of the society to improve their financial outcomes (e.g., savings and the accumulation of assets such as furniture or a sewing machine) and non-financial ones (e.g., health, food-security, nutrition, education, women’s empowerment, housing, job creation, and social cohesion) (Eduardo, Birochi & Pozzebon, 2012; Robert & Riggins, 2012; CGAP, 2003, Robinson, 2001; Yunus, 1999; Afrane, 2002; Beck, Demirguc-Kunt, & Levine, 2004; Hietalahti & Linden, 2006; Hossain & Knight, 2008; Khandker, 2001; Odell, 2010; Wright, 2000). The main stakeholders of microfinance are clients, donors, intermediaries, insurance agencies and regulatory agencies, among others. Decision making in microfinance tend to be complicated due to the existence of multiple layers of decisions and processes, diversity of stakeholders and their concerns, difficulty of balancing dual objectives, limited adaptation capacities, and lack of reliable management information.