Financial Institutions' Challenges to Provide Credit in the Democratic Republic of Congo - Experiences from Financial Cooperation

This survey shows how Financial Institutions (FIs) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have tended to consider micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) as an interesting business segment in recent years. The bulk of the study consists of interviews with twenty FIs in Kinshasa. The findings indicate that FIs’ cooperation with MSMEs is often restricted by credit methodologies not (yet) fully adapted to MSME-financing. Furthermore, most of the FIs lack an appropriate organisational structure, tailor-made MSME products and strategies to target the MSME-segment. The survey concludes that three different types of FIs exist, each requiring a different approach to boost its MSME-portfolio.