Sustainability, scale and outreach are critical issues for some. Funding for their operations and survival is mostly dependant on Government, the private sector and donor grants, or sometimes sadly from the intermediation of members’ funds! To ensure consolidation and development in this area it is necessary to bring these struggling, unregulated institutions under the central bank’s oversight role.
On the other hand, the improvement in economic activities has not stimulated corporate demand for external funds, since firms’ cash flow is at a high level in parallel with the recovery in profits. Moreover, firms continue to reduce their debts as part of their balance-sheet restructuring measures. As a result, credit demand in the private sector has continued to be basically stagnant.