At the bank level, dividend income from equity participations has generally become much more important, indicating an increase in the importance of the profit generated by non-bank subsidiaries. Beside the establishment of non-bank subsidiaries, there have been other strategic and organisational changes that have resulted in banks strengthening their securities-related activities.
One such area is the need to commit more resources to microfinancing. While institutional arrangements are being put in place to increase access to financing for micro-enterprises at the government level, the banking sector with its large network of branches can become an important channel to enhance its services to this sub-sector.