In densely populated areas of Asia and Latin America, providing credit has been the driving force of microfinance because opportunities to invest in income-generating activities are many. But rural Africans have been left out, both because they have been hard to reach and because their bottom-rung economic status makes savings – often a hedge against starvation itself – a higher priority than credit. Up to now, most efforts have been focused on overcoming the obstacles involved in bringing banking and microfinance to Africa’s poor. In 2006, CGAP5 conducted a global survey of formal institutions that offer savings and credit services.
