More banks are needed in Angola to satisfy growing demand for banking services, a senior central bank official was reported in a newspaper, adding that only 11 percent of the nation’s 16.5 million people had access to banks.
State-owned newspaper Jornal de Angola quoted central bank director Leao Peres as saying there were only four bank branches available for every 100 000 people and banking services were insufficient.
Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest bank by assets, said in January it saw Angola as a key growth market after it was granted a licence to operate in the African nation. The market is dominated by a handful of Angolan and Portuguese banks.
A 2008 study by consulting firm KPMG found that only 6.7% of the population had access to banking services in 2007, up from 6% the previous year.
Angola emerged from a civil war in 2002 to rival Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer.
Source: www.af.reuters.com
