Microfinance seems to have grabbed the attention of a lot of people at the Temenos Client Forum. 

Accion International are using eMerge on T24 as their technology platform to help bring commercial lending to Africa. Working with partner banks on the ground they have just started operating in Nigeria and Ghana and are targeting twenty countries on the continent. 

Accion VP, Alfred Nicayenzi, is optimistic about the market's potential. He says that in many African countries small business represents around 50% of GDP. But at the moment less than 10% of people on the continent are banked.  

Banks are starting to realise that they can make money out of this problem and Nicayenzi believes both local and big Western banks are going to step up their investment in microfinance.

It looks like everyone can win with this. The banks can begin to tap into the market and as the business grows and they start collecting customers, they can diversify and offer different services. This is handy for Temenos and other vendors because the banks will want to add modules to their platform as and when they need them.  

The benefits for the general population are obvious. Building up small businesses creates wealth and employment, bringing more people into the formal economy – people who want banking services.