아프리카ㆍ중동

Ghana has witnessed burgeoning expansion of the micro-finance sector in the past decade. Most of these new microfinance institutions have erupted from people who were previous employees of traditional banks (spin-offs). This study seeks to investigate the triggers of these individual spin-off companies within the Ghanaian microfinance sector. Additionally, it will assess the relationship between spin-off and parent firms, and its likely impact on the spin- off firm. The study employed the qualitative method to seek a detailed and in-depth analysis to understand the issue by way of in-depth interviews. The purposive and snowballing sampling approach were used to select the microfinance spin-off firms, whereas the snowballing approach was used to identify more spin-offs within the sector. Five respondents were interviewed due to theoretical saturation and difficulty in finding any more spin-offs. Three major themes emerged from the study as triggers/drivers of spin-offs in the micro-finance sector. These included necessity, opportunity and need for self-actualization. It is recommended that the spin-off phenomenon should be encouraged to accelerate entrepreneurship and innovation in the Ghanaian economy. Results from this study have implications for research, education and policy.