From financial exclusion to financial inclusion through microfinance: the case of rural Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper sought to shed light on the status of rural banking and financial exclusion in Zimbabwe. Various reasons put forth by existing commercial banks were examined to understand why a large population of the country remains unbanked. These ranged from perceptions of the rural communities being too poor to need financial services to real economic and business decisions. Various literature on banking the poor and success stories from other countries were discussed in the literature. To meet the objectives of the study, data gathered from various individuals, commercial banks and microfinance institutions based in Matabeleland North was analysed. It was found that the rural population is in fact largely bankable. However, due to inadequate basic infrastructure in the rural areas, it did not make business sense for established banks to service that population. Banks exist to make a profit and the burden of ensuring financial inclusion of the rural population was left mainly to microfinance institutions which however faced a serious of challenges ranging.