Bank survey available on line.(Commercial Review)

IS AFRICA OVER-banked? A quick look at the latest African Banking Directory published every two years in Switzerland by SIFIDA suggests that it is. Nearly 30 separate institutions are listed for a country like Tanzania, where a substantial proportion of nationals never use a retail bank at all--and where the total size of the economy falls short of a single province in many other countries. But then one looks at this reliable banking guide more carefully and notices that the new micro-finance institutions, inspired by Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and now making waves in rural areas of countries like Kenya, are listed too. It is good to see forward-looking banks like Microfin …