Luanda - The National Council for Financial Stability (CNEF) promoted, in one year, a survey on the panorama of financial inclusion and exclusion in Luanda's informal markets.
According to a note that Angop had access to, on Friday, at least 2940 surveys were carried out between August 2019 (pilot survey) and March 2020 (final exercise).
The document adds that the measurement of the degree of financial inclusion included bank account ownership, payment methodology, savings, credit, insurance and internet access.
Among other data, the surveys made it possible to measure banks' market share by market, banking applications used by market, banking by gender, age group and education level, financial planning for old age, credit (obtaining, source, purpose and target credit) and traders' insurance coverage.
Financial inclusion is globally recognised as a factor enhancing countries' economic development.
On the other hand, the participation of the population in the financial system promotes the eradication of poverty, the reduction of social asymmetries and contributes to a more resilient and stable financial system.
From this perspective, the preparation of a national strategy for financial inclusion, based on the particularities of the national situation, is a priority.
The first step, however, is to know the panorama of financial inclusion and exclusion in the country, giving priority to the demand side, i.e. consumers and non-consumers, of regulated financial products.
The initiative was supported by the National Institute for Consumer Defence, the Angolan Insurance Regulation and Supervision Agency, the National Bank of Angola and the Capital Market Commission.
The institution said that the data obtained from these surveys would help state authorities (particularly those linked to supervision of the financial system, taxation, education, civil identification, consumer protection and also technologies) to define and fine-tune public policies and strategies, but also financial institutions to develop products more suited to an under-served fringe of the population, which could, however, contribute significantly to increasing their business.
