There is therefore a need for new business models and fresh thinking on how this market can be best served. This presents a large untapped market and a source of vast opportunities. The private sector, with its inherent agility, is well placed to respond to such opportunities with commercial potential. It has the capacity to innovate and develop new and sustainable business models.
Microfinance is a good example. The large numbers of low income micro entrepreneurs were once thought to have very high credit risk to which commercial financial institutions have traditionally been averse. With appropriately priced and designed products, microfinance institutions have proven the profitability of serving a market that was previously viewed as unbankable.