Access to Microfinance in Africa

A Gallup poll of 18,000 Sub-Saharan Africans showed that many people who could benefit from microfinance institutions did not know if they existed locally. When asked the question, "Are you aware of any institution/company in your community helping people with microfinance," which they also defined, these were the percent who responded yes, not in my community, or never heard of microfinance:

	Yes	Not here	Never heard
Malawi	0.65	0.29	0.07
Uganda	0.63	0.3	0.07
Kenya	0.57	0.29	0.14
Senegal	0.56	0.29	0.13
Tanzania	0.47	0.4	0.13
Rwanda	0.46	0.4	0.13
Chad	0.38	0.51	0.1
S. Africa	0.38	0.34	0.28
Ghana	0.37	0.43	0.18
Mali	0.36	0.51	0.13
Cameroon	0.36	0.36	0.28
Niger	0.33	0.59	0.08
Nigeria	0.31	0.43	0.17
Zambia	0.3	0.53	0.14
Burundi	0.25	0.59	0.15
Ivory Coast	0.18	0.65	0.18
DRC	0.16	0.61	0.22
Zimbabwe	0.15	0.46	0.39

While there were 6.5 million microfinance borrowers in sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2008, this number represents 3% of the potential market, indicating considerable room for growth. This is evident in the more than three in five sub-Saharan Africans who have never heard of microfinance institutions or say they are not available in their communities.