Many African banks, buoyed by the continent’s strong economic growth, have expanded impressively in the past six years. Kenya’s are no exception, their assets more than doubling between 2005 and 2010.
But what lenders in Kenya stand out for is having broadened their reach among the country’s population so extensively. In most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the proportions of unbanked people are still huge, lenders having grown mainly by exploiting a booming corporate sector. Even in Ghana and Senegal, two of the region’s more sophisticated economies, more than 80% of people do not have bank accounts.
