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

12 Jarotschkin
Figure 1.4 Rural and Urban Distribution of ATMs and POS, 2010
100
90
80
70
Percent
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Botswana
Burundi
Gambia, The
Madagascar
Sudan
Country
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Urban
Rural
Source: CGAP and World Bank 2010.
Reaching out, MFIs face the same costs as banks, and infrastructure
deficiencies make this effort costlier than in other world regions.
Undoubtedly, MFIs have various ways to reach out to their rural clients—
not only through extending their branch networks. Loan officers can
travel to disburse loans or at least make trips to collect payments on loans,
hence improving access for rural customers. Measuring the number of
rural clients rather than the rural branch network would thus capture the
“real” distribution of MFI services to those areas. Unfortunately, the
data on MFI rural and urban client distribution, collected and openly
available on MIX (Microfinance Information Exchange), 3 do not show
even these methods of outreach to have been outstandingly successful. A
look at the median MFI shows that most clients are from urban and semiurban
areas; 4 only 37 percent of all clients come from rural areas.
Although this distribution is not representative—so far only a few MFIs
report to this relatively new database—it shows that in order to reach
more rural clients, new ways have to be explored.
Borrower and Depositor Comparisons
Comparing depositor growth rates in Africa with those of other regions
in the world shows that Africa occupies a special position. Depositor
growth rates have been accelerating—they decreased and contracted only