Working-Capital-Related Financial Management and Institutional Performance: Evidence from A Call to Business Savings and Loans Limited, Sierra Leone
Author (s)
Joseph Davies & Alusine Frederick Kargbo
Abstract
This study examines working-capital-related financial management at A Call to Business Savings and Loans Limited (ACTB), a Sierra Leonean intermediary serving micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and describes the observable relationship between balance-sheet structure and institutional performance across publicly documented observations. By treating a deposit-taking lender as the unit of analysis, the study contributes to finance research on banking and financial innovation in frontier markets, where balance-sheet choices shape both credit access and institutional resilience. The study adopts a quantitative single-institution case-study approach to publicly documented observations, principally December 2013 and June 2018, with later observations used as context. Analysis uses financial-ratio calculations, nominal percentage-change calculations, percentage-point comparisons and descriptive balance-sheet analysis. The loan portfolio increased by 346.37 per cent, total assets by 398.36 per cent, savings by 882.49 per cent, equity by 553.38 per cent, and borrowers by 157.29 per cent. Loan-portfolio intensity declined from 67.01 per cent to 60.02 per cent, while savings intensity rose from 7.18 per cent to 14.15 per cent. PAR30 rose from 7.18 per cent to 8.85 per cent, following a 2014 crisis peak of 26 per cent. The study reconstructs publicly reported ACTB observations transparently and adapts working-capital analysis to a deposit-taking lender in a fragile-state setting. The paper thereby offers a replicable diagnostic framework for financial institutions operating where audited multi-year data are scarce, a setting of direct relevance to JMR’s finance and economics readership.
Keywords: Working Capital Management, Institutional Performance, Loan Portfolio, Funding Structure, Microfinance, Sierra Leone, ACTB.
| Title: | Working-Capital-Related Financial Management and Institutional Performance: Evidence from A Call to Business Savings and Loans Limited, Sierra Leone |
|---|---|
| Author: | Joseph Davies & Alusine Frederick Kargbo |
| Journal Name: | Journal of Market Research |
| ISSN: | 3106-549X |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.58970/JMR.5021 |
| Website: | ijsab.com |
| Media: | Online |
| Volume: | 2 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Issue publication (Year): | 2026 |
| Acceptance Date: | 10/10/2026 |
| Date of Publication: | 16/10/2026 |
| PDF URL: | http://ijsab.com/wp-content/uploads/5021.pdf |
| Free download: | Available |
| Page: | 182-198 |
| First Page: | 182 |
| Last Page: | 198 |
| Paper Type: | Research paper |
| Current Status: | Published |
Cite This Article:
Davies, J. & Kargbo, A. F. (2026). Working-Capital-Related Financial Management and Institutional Performance: Evidence from A Call to Business Savings and Loans Limited, Sierra Leone, Journal of Market Research, 2(1), 182-198. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58970/JMR.5021
Retrieved from http://ijsab.com/wp-content/uploads/5021.pdf
About Author (s)
Joseph Davies (Corresponding Author), Strategic Data Analytics Consultancy and Research Centre (StraDARC), Makeni City, Sierra Leone. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2086-9434
Alusine Frederick Kargbo, Strategic Data Analytics Consultancy and Research Centre (StraDARC), Makeni City, Sierra Leone. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1679-5034
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58970/JMR.5021
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