Mario De Zamaroczy, Division Head in the International Monetary Fund’s African Department.

What is financial inclusion?

This is a technical expression on the concept of access to basic financial services as offered by formal finance institutions to individuals, households and small and medium-sized enterprises. It’s typically those segments of the population and of the business world who do not have access to regular banking services because they do not have checking and saving accounts and debit and credit cards which make it very difficult for them to obtain loans.

Why is it so difficult for entrepreneurs in Central Africa to find financing?

There is a lot of liquidity in banks but they are unwilling to provide loans. They apparently want to have guarantees and know whom they are dealing with. This requires a lot of documentation, collaterals and all kind of identification which, individual households and small entrepreneurs do not have, and so, there is this gap between formal banks who are more used to working with the formal sector and the vast majority of the population and small businesses who are not yet fully integrated in the formal sector, so bridging this gap between those who need those services and those who are willing to provide them is one of the major concerns.

What is the interest of the International Monetary Fund in facilitating access to finances?

Studies by other international organizations have shown that there is a direct link between developing access to formal financial services and reducing poverty thereby increasing opportunities and growth. Individuals and households that typically operate exclusively on cash basis face drawbacks in travelling long distances on queuing for hours, sometimes with the risk of losing cash savings and or payments delayed or diminished. Going through a finance institution provides customers electronically with guarantees and the speed in the transaction and the cost lower with a wider range in terms of transferring money or receiving loans or receiving payments in a distance. We believe that increasing access to financial services has a very strong poverty reduction component and for small businesses, it offers opportunities to additional finances while contributing to economic growth.

How feasible is financial inclusion in Central Africa

There are a lot of lessons we can learn from elsewhere. There is new information and communication technologies with internet banking, mobile banking are branch banking just to name but these. These are just some of the ideas that other countries have experienced and sometimes with extremely success rates. We want first to look at these international experiences to see how they could be adapted or developed in Central Africa, learn about the advantages, its pitfalls and some of the dangers. Authorities can promote and at the same time supervise its new innovative financial services and make sure that they will be part of financial landscape.