MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Standard Bank: Majority of Africans Lack Access to Microfinance, Other Financial Services

A new report from Standard Bank of South Africa reveals that many financial services remain unavailable to the majority of the people that live in Africa. The report indicates that in Namibia about 48 percent have access to formal banks; in Zambia, 25 percent of the population has access to a bank; in Mozambique and Tanzania the number is reported to be less than a quarter of the population. In Nigeria, with a population of 150 million, 120 million reportedly have no access to formal banking. According to Standard Bank research analyst Simon Freemantle, “Access to finance has been, and in the majority of African countries remains, one of the continent’s largest impediments to swifter socio-economic advance.” [1]

According to Standard Bank, almost all of Sub-Saharan Africa’s top 100 banks—as measured by assets—are in South Africa, Nigeria, Angola and Mauritius. About 80 percent of the continent’s top 200 banks are in Nigeria, South Africa and North Africa.

By Cameron Milani, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] The Southern Times, “Locked Out – Majority of Africans have no Access to Bank Services,” http://www.southerntimesafrica.com/article.php?title=Locked_out_-__Major…

MicroCapital Article, August 16, 2011: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Survey: Nigeria Falls Behind South Africa, Kenya, Botswana in Financial Access,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-survey-nigeria-falls-behi…

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