Rural savings mobilization and rural credit study -- financial markets in rural Zaire : an assessment of the Bandundu and Shaba regions -- final report -- executive summary

The study first addressed the question of access to and demand for financial services by rural households and enterprises, focusing primarily on credit and deposit services. In addition, the viability and performance of financial intermediaries, and the nature and extent of the linkages between these intermediaries, are documented and analyzed. Rural household surveys, and interviews with bankers, managers of credit unions, leaders of informal financial groups, and individuals engaged in informal financial intermediation such as traders and moneykeepers provided the data base for the analyses carried out in the study. The findings revealed the limited role of formal financial institutions as suppliers of financial services for rural households. Among these institutions, the only sector that emerged as a promising base for financial development in rural areas is the credit union network currently in place in both Bandundu and Shaba. At the same time, the study documented substantial and highly monetized activity in the informal financial markets of the two regions. Informal financial groups, moneykeepers/moneylenders, traders, and direct transactions between rural households are the major components of non- institutional finance in rural areas. Despite the significant activity of informal intermediaries, there is considerable potential for financial market growth in the areas under analysis. (Author abstract)