The late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century were not kind to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with civil war, widespread corruption and economic challenges halting any real development in the country, not to mention causing untold pain and suffering to the population at large.
This troubled landscape also had a strong impact on access to financial services, as well as overall financial inclusion. To this day the DRC’s population remains heavily underbanked; it is estimated that 25 million people out of a population of about 88 million are outside of the financial system, with just 14% of the population having an actual bank account. Overall financial inclusion in the DRC is estimated at 26%, aided by a strong pick-up in mobile money services in recent years.
