Financial Sector Development in Africa: Opportunities ... - World Bank

Introduction
Thorsten Beck and Samuel Munzele Maimbo
Africa’s financial systems face challenges across many dimensions,
as discussed in the report Financing Africa: Through the Crisis and Beyond. 1
The analysis in that report was based partly on several detailed background
papers that are included in this volume. The next six chapters are
written by experts in their respective areas and provide an in-depth
analysis of these challenges and present possible solutions. In this introduction,
we provide an overview of the different chapters and how they
are related to each other and the main volume.
Part I: Expanding Access
The three chapters in part I focus on key challenges concerned with
access to financial services, including financial and operational deficiencies
in the microfinance market, reaping the benefits from the technological
revolution of retail banking, and deepening and broadening agricultural
finance across Africa. The three chapters thus each cover different aspects
with a different focus, ranging from an institutional approach to a focus
on innovation as a driver of financial broadening to an important element
of financial infrastructure to a specific sector.
Financing Africa advocates a broader approach to financial inclusion,
including looking at a broad set of institutions to deliver financial services
1