It is commonly known that big banks don’t care much about the less wealthy, since providing banking solutions for them is often considered risky and expensive. Since most banks won’t give loans to less wealthy people and having a savings account in the bank usually costs money, people with a very low income usually can’t afford to have a savings account. As a consequence, many people in Africa adopted the practice of putting their money into a common savings account. Needless to say this can cause problems, such as people withdrawing more from the common account than they are entitled to (Source: World Bank-Video via Youtube).
The good news is, that a project called The Partnership for Financial Inclusion has emerged, aiming to promote financial services amongst the not so wealthy in Africa. The project is developping and testing innovative business models for financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is stated on the project’s website that they aim to achieve universal financial access by 2020. In order to promote banking amongst poor regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, the programme is cooperating with a banking system called FINCA. FINCA delivers financial services in developing countries and emerging markets, providing people of all income classes with a savings account, granting loans to small businesses and education loans to students. Together, FINCA and The Partnership for Financial Inclusion are trying to make a difference and to provide poor people in Africa with a banking account and loans. If you want to learn more about the project, watch the video – It’s worth it!
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