Access to finance and funding practice in Zambia

Abstract

Access to finance is critical to the improvement of a country’s economy. Government and companies are in constant need of funding to produce and provide the most desirable consumer goods and services. This article focuses on the factors that have an impact on access to finance in Zambia. The article details the description of access to finance and the specific factors that have an impact on access to finance in Zambia namely Financial infrastructure, Credit reporting, Credit rating, The Payment and Settlement System, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), Mobile Banking, Agricultural and Rural Finance, gender and finance and Financial Capability.The details in this article is entirely collected through secondary research, specifically from scholarly articles banking and finance, various text books inbanking and finance and journals from professional bodies. The paper is focused on the factors that have an impact on access to finance with emphasis on Zambian institutions, although general commentaries from various areas on the continent of Africa are also included in the article.