Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 8 : How to Increase the Availability of Financing Needed to Stimulate Private Sector Investment? A Review of the State of and Barriers to Access to Financial Services in São Tomé and Príncipe
This note discusses the current structure of the financial sector in São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) and the main obstacles preventing mobilization and allocation of more resources to private sector investment. Since 2012, credit to the private sector...
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/827551562910330844/Country-Economic-Memorandum-Background-Note-8-How-to-increase-the-availability-of-financing-needed-to-stimulate-private-sector-investment-A-review-of-the-state-of-and-barriers-to-access-to-financial-services-in-São-Tomé-and-Príncipe http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32133 |
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okr-10986-321332021-05-25T09:26:15Z Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 8 : How to Increase the Availability of Financing Needed to Stimulate Private Sector Investment? A Review of the State of and Barriers to Access to Financial Services in São Tomé and Príncipe Barreto, Rúben Vicente, Carlos Leonardo PRIVATE INVESTMENT ACCESS TO FINANCE FINANCIAL SERVICES RISK MITIGATION FINANCIAL SECTOR This note discusses the current structure of the financial sector in São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) and the main obstacles preventing mobilization and allocation of more resources to private sector investment. Since 2012, credit to the private sector in STP has been declining and is currently below peers. In an economy dominated by informality, banks provide credit to a limited number of borrowers, prioritizing large borrowers. A survey completed in 2017 showed that only 18 percent of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) reported being registered and having a bank account, of which only 3 percent had access to credit. The same survey showed that only 39 percent of individuals, some of them owners of micro-enterprises registered under their personal name, have access to financial services. The note is divided into four sections. The first provides an overview of STP’s financial sector, analyzing and benchmarking its structure, depth, and soundness. The second section analyzes the landscape of access to financial services (focusing on individuals and MSMEs), while the third describes some of the key limitations of the financial infrastructure in STP that create obstacles to financial sector development and access to finance. Finally, the fourth section concludes with policy recommendations that can help increase access to financial services in STP. 2019-07-29T19:10:41Z 2019-07-29T19:10:41Z 2019-06-26 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/827551562910330844/Country-Economic-Memorandum-Background-Note-8-How-to-increase-the-availability-of-financing-needed-to-stimulate-private-sector-investment-A-review-of-the-state-of-and-barriers-to-access-to-financial-services-in-São-Tomé-and-Príncipe http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32133 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work :: Country Economic Memorandum Economic & Sector Work Africa Sao Tome and Principe |
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Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
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World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
PRIVATE INVESTMENT ACCESS TO FINANCE FINANCIAL SERVICES RISK MITIGATION FINANCIAL SECTOR |
| spellingShingle |
PRIVATE INVESTMENT ACCESS TO FINANCE FINANCIAL SERVICES RISK MITIGATION FINANCIAL SECTOR Barreto, Rúben Vicente, Carlos Leonardo Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 8 : How to Increase the Availability of Financing Needed to Stimulate Private Sector Investment? A Review of the State of and Barriers to Access to Financial Services in São Tomé and Príncipe |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Sao Tome and Principe |
| description |
This note discusses the current
structure of the financial sector in São Tomé and Príncipe
(STP) and the main obstacles preventing mobilization and
allocation of more resources to private sector investment.
Since 2012, credit to the private sector in STP has been
declining and is currently below peers. In an economy
dominated by informality, banks provide credit to a limited
number of borrowers, prioritizing large borrowers. A survey
completed in 2017 showed that only 18 percent of micro,
small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) reported being
registered and having a bank account, of which only 3
percent had access to credit. The same survey showed that
only 39 percent of individuals, some of them owners of
micro-enterprises registered under their personal name, have
access to financial services. The note is divided into four
sections. The first provides an overview of STP’s financial
sector, analyzing and benchmarking its structure, depth, and
soundness. The second section analyzes the landscape of
access to financial services (focusing on individuals and
MSMEs), while the third describes some of the key
limitations of the financial infrastructure in STP that
create obstacles to financial sector development and access
to finance. Finally, the fourth section concludes with
policy recommendations that can help increase access to
financial services in STP. |
| format |
Report |
| author |
Barreto, Rúben Vicente, Carlos Leonardo |
| author_facet |
Barreto, Rúben Vicente, Carlos Leonardo |
| author_sort |
Barreto, Rúben |
| title |
Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 8 : How to Increase the Availability of Financing Needed to Stimulate Private Sector Investment? A Review of the State of and Barriers to Access to Financial Services in São Tomé and Príncipe |
| title_short |
Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 8 : How to Increase the Availability of Financing Needed to Stimulate Private Sector Investment? A Review of the State of and Barriers to Access to Financial Services in São Tomé and Príncipe |
| title_full |
Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 8 : How to Increase the Availability of Financing Needed to Stimulate Private Sector Investment? A Review of the State of and Barriers to Access to Financial Services in São Tomé and Príncipe |
| title_fullStr |
Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 8 : How to Increase the Availability of Financing Needed to Stimulate Private Sector Investment? A Review of the State of and Barriers to Access to Financial Services in São Tomé and Príncipe |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 8 : How to Increase the Availability of Financing Needed to Stimulate Private Sector Investment? A Review of the State of and Barriers to Access to Financial Services in São Tomé and Príncipe |
| title_sort |
country economic memorandum for sao tome and principe - background note 8 : how to increase the availability of financing needed to stimulate private sector investment? a review of the state of and barriers to access to financial services in são tomé and príncipe |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/827551562910330844/Country-Economic-Memorandum-Background-Note-8-How-to-increase-the-availability-of-financing-needed-to-stimulate-private-sector-investment-A-review-of-the-state-of-and-barriers-to-access-to-financial-services-in-São-Tomé-and-Príncipe http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32133 |
| _version_ |
1764475845799313408 |