Financial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Promoting Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

By Montfort Mlachila, Ahmat Jidoud, Monique Newiak, Bozena Radzewicz-Bak, Misa Takebe

September 14, 2016

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Montfort Mlachila, Ahmat Jidoud, Monique Newiak, Bozena Radzewicz-Bak, and Misa Takebe. Financial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Promoting Inclusive and Sustainable Growth, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2016) accessed December 26, 2024

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

This paper discusses how sub-Saharan Africa’s financial sector developed in the past few decades, compared with other regions. Sub-Saharan African countries have made substantial progress in financial development over the past decade, but there is still considerable scope for further development, especially compared with other regions. Indeed, until a decade or so ago, the level of financial development in a large number of sub-Saharan African countries had actually regressed relative to the early 1980s. With the exception of the region’s middle-income countries, both financial market depth and institutional development are lower than in other developing regions. The region has led the world in innovative financial services based on mobile telephony, but there remains scope to increase financial inclusion further. The development of mobile telephone-based systems has helped to incorporate a large share of the population into the financial system, especially in East Africa. Pan-African banks have been a driver for homegrown financial development, but they also bring a number of challenges.

Subject: Basel II, Economic sectors, Financial inclusion, Financial markets, Financial regulation and supervision, Financial sector, Financial sector development, Financial services, Mobile banking

Keywords: Africa, Asia and Pacific, Banking sector, Basel II, Commodity price, DP, DPPP, East Africa, Financial inclusion, Financial institution index, Financial sector, Financial sector development, Financial system, Global, Market index, Monetary union, Return on assets, Return on equity, Sub-Saharan Africa

Publication Details

Pages:

79
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Departmental Paper No. 2016/011
Stock No:

FDSAEA
ISBN:

9781475532401
ISSN:

2616-5333

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