Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Finscope Zambia 2015 survey has revealed that the proportion of Zambian adults accessing financial services has increased from 37.3 percent in 2009 to 59.3 percent in 2015 bringing the total number of adults accessing financial services to 4.8 million.
The study indicates that this represents a significant reduction of the number of adults who are financially excluded.
In 2009, 4 million adults were financially excluded and in 2015 this number has dropped to 3.3million.
The Finscope survey further reveals that men are more likely to have access to financial services than women while 61.2 percent of adult males are financially included while 57.4 percent of adult women are financially included.
In terms of livelihoods, Finscope shows that adults who are employed in formal sector and business owners are more likely to financially include than adults who rely on other sources of income.
And speaking shortly before the launch of the survey Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba says Zambia’s financial sector development programme (FSDP) project was set up in recognition of the strategic importance of the financial sector to the Zambia’s development and poverty reduction efforts.
Speaking at the same function the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) Head of Delegation Emma Donnelly says DFID aims at supporting public and private sector efforts to develop an efficient and vibrant financial sector, offering a wide range of financial services through diverse channels to households and individuals as well as micro, small and medium enterprises.
The finscope Zambia 2015 was implemented through a partnership between the government of Zambia’s FSDP and FSDZ with advisory support from fin Mark trust.