Description
As part of "Structural Adjustment Programmes", many governments in Sub-Saharan Africa initiated a major restructuring of the financial system in the 1980s. Emphasis was placed on the need to adopt financial liberalization measures, and to enhance regulatory and supervisory functions. However, financial reform has at best had a limited developmental effect on the region so far, and widespread fragmentation of financial markets persist.;This work examines the effects of financial liberalization on development, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Looking at the relationship between formal and informal financial institutions, it focuses on structural features that separate formal and informal segments of the financial system. The findings are based on field work conducted in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and Tanzania, and lead the way to a reassessment of the design of financial reform programmes and some proposals for effective institution-building policies. These include measures to deepen financial markets, to strengthen the financial infrastructure, to implement a new regulatory and incentive framework to advance market integration, to improve financial technology and to develop linkages amongst market segements. A systematic study, this volume contributes to the literature on alternative theories of financial development and on the effects of financial liberalization. It should be of particular interest to students of development economics.
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