Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of Africa’s financial systems. Generally, Africa’s financial systems are seen as shallow and tend to experience a financial development gap relative to other developing economies. The chapter discusses the features of the various aspects of Africa’s financial markets, including banking, stock markets, bond markets, insurance and pensions sectors, as well as the FinTech industry. Africa’s financial systems are generally confronted with some challenges including financial volatility and economic shocks, weak regulations, undeveloped capital markets, weak governments and institutions, international trade barriers, limited integration with the international financial system, uncertainties from the global financial and economic crises, as well as the current COVID-19 pandemic. We make a case for more research on how African countries can address these challenges and position their financial systems to be resilient to these shocks. The chapter also mentions the purpose of the book and provides an overview of various chapters.
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Notes
- 1.
A market-based financial system is one in which the capital market plays a more significant role compared with the banking sector.
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Abor, J.Y., Adjasi, C.K.D. (2022). Introduction: An Overview of Africa’s Financial Systems. In: Abor, J.Y., Adjasi, C.K.D. (eds) The Economics of Banking and Finance in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04162-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04162-4_1
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