Tag: FinancialInclusion

Small and Media Enterprises (SMEs) are regularly rejected for funding, even when their businesses are profitable, because the system was not designed with their business reality in mind. SMEs contribute around 40% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 60% of employment. Yet they face the SME funding gap, which is estimated at R350 billion. There is no shortage of funding in the system.

South Africa should carefully assess how short-term instalment products are interpreted before Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) data shapes access to mainstream credit. The country could risk turning BNPL into a product that shuts people out of mainstream credit rather than helping them into it. This could happen if BNPL data enters credit-scoring systems that were never designed to interpret this type of product fairly.

For most of the past decade, African fintech was a land grab. Valuations rewarded user numbers. Interfaces became flashier. “Disruption” became the pitch that attracted capital investment. From the outside, it was clear that the model was running hotter than it could sustain. However, that era is over.

A few months into the year, financial pressure begins to feel different. School fees become due, winter expenses approach and transport costs continue to rise. Meanwhile, January’s financial resolutions begin competing with everyday survival. Rarely does one major expense disrupt financial discipline. Instead, the steady friction of small, unavoidable costs slowly chips away at our best intentions.

We have released our new findings from the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Opportunity Leads Umbrella Program. The findings identify five critical and interconnected domains that drive women’s income growth among low-income micro-entrepreneurs. The insights emerged from a two-year collaboration with 11 enterprises in Kenya through the WEE Program.

April’s Financial Literacy Month provides an opportunity to reflect on progress. It also highlights where the next phase of financial inclusion must focus. While access remains foundational, the real challenge lies in outcomes. Specifically, credit must deliver sustainable and positive results for consumers. Over the past decade, South Africa has expanded access to financial services. This progress has strengthened financial inclusion across the country.

For years, a familiar narrative has shaped our understanding of South African consumers. It suggests they are over-indebted, under-saving and prone to conspicuous consumption. Statistics often reinforce this view. These include low household savings rates, rising unsecured lending and high levels of personal debt. On the surface, the conclusion seems obvious. However, it remains incomplete.

Africa is building one of the fastest-growing instant payment ecosystems in the world. However, transaction speeds now move in seconds. Fraud detection frameworks still operate in minutes, hours or even days. This gap creates a dangerous asymmetry. Payments are becoming real-time, while risk management often is not. As a result, real-time payments continue to outpace traditional control systems.

For many people, the word credit evokes negative feelings because they associate it with debt risk. However, when we analyse its macroeconomic role, we must draw a clear distinction. We must distinguish between lending for general consumption and lending for a specific, productive purpose. The first approach remains broad and unfocused. As a result, it often produces the burdensome outcomes that fuel fear. The second approach offers a more responsible alternative.

Standard Bank’s latest Township Informal Economy Report reveals that eight out of ten township traders are not registered. From our work with entrepreneurs, this reflects deeper barriers - not just administrative, but psychological and structural - that keep many businesses trapped in informality.