Development finance key to unlocking investment potential in Africa

21 June 2011: Development finance institutions are crucial for the development of small and medium scale businesses across Africa, which otherwise struggle to gain proper access to finance to help build and expand their operations. It is the opening up of finance available to these businesses that will help to unlock the investment potential in Africa.

According to Professor Meshach Aziakpono, professor of development finance at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) and programme head of the MPhil in Development Finance (MDevF), such businesses often suffer as they are not big enough to raise capital on the stock market or liquid enough to be able to issue bonds to obtain financing.

Aziakpono, who is an expert in economic and financial sector development in Africa, says that in terms of training, financial programmes often tend to focus only on traditional financial systems comprising of banks, insurance companies, and stock and bond markets.

“The majority of the population and businesses in African countries do not have access to these markets, hence they are often excluded”