In the last fifteen years, many African economies have begun to experience higher growth rates and increases in per capita income. High commodity prices, large-scale reduction in debt, Asian investment in the continent, and economic expansion of some of the non-oil exporting countries has helped drive this growth. However, there is still an alarming number of people living below the poverty line. Bringing financial services to this part of the population could break the poverty cycle. Sarita Gupta, Vice President, Communication of Women’s World Banking describes the current microfinance landscape on the continent. Read entire article on PDF