Banking in Africa 2015
Banking in Africa 2015
The banking sectors of a number of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries have exhibited significant growth in recent years. The key contributing factors have been increased economic activity and improved regulatory oversight. However, the rapid rise of pan-African banks has also been a contributing factor.
The growing presence of major pan-African and global banks on the continent has undoubtedly improved the availability and quality of financial services in recent years.
Despite strong banking sector growth, a large proportion of the African populace still does not make use of formal financial services. Banking penetration still remains as low as 36% in some of the larger economies. The fact that commercial banks’ reach – in terms of branches and ATMs as a proportion of the population – remains well below global averages certainly does not prove helpful in this regard.
To bridge this gap, banks have started to explore alternative operating models, including mobile banking, mobile branches and using third-party agents.
This report explores the these topics in more detail.
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