Few people in Africa have bank accounts. In Ghana, just like the sub-Saharan African region over all, it is 19%, but it varies from 49% in South Africa and 1% in Congo/Kinshasa and Niger.
So why do not Africans go to the bank and open an account?
Gallup includes the answer to this question in their report Few in Sub-Saharan Africa Have Money in a Bank:
“Two-thirds say the lack of money is the main reason why they don’t have accounts.”
What a shocker.
Read the whole Gallup report here! And/or read more Ghana related Gallup news!
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5 Comments
Very interesting. Will pass the link on
Not surprising since about 6.5% of people in the US, for example, do not have bank accounts either and a good number of them use check-cashing places (charging higher fees) instead.
It is a good thing one private bank in Ghana sends staff out into the streets to sell their products. That will certainly bring positive change since we are gradually doing less “cash-and-carry”.
One thing I would be interested to know is what the article defines as a ‘bank’. I assume it is the traditional brick-and-mortar financial institution. I know that in the rural areas where there is very limited access to formal banking facilities the traditional ‘susu’ is more prevalent. Even though it’s not classified as a bank per se, it serves the goal of pooling monies in a fund for the financial betterment of the contributors (and of course that is not to say it is better compared to a bank).
Thanks for reading and commenting on this post. I guess both Banton and Mike bring up similar points of expanding the traditional concept of banking. I’m sure if you read the report more carefully you will find what definition was in fact used. I thought the report also highlighted other interesting things that Ghanaian banks should take note of, that readily available ATMs is the most important thing when choosing a bank, for instance…
Thanks, Nina!