Small merchants can jump-start the growth of a cashless economy in developing countries where many people currently have little access to financial services, a new report says.
The study, called “Small Merchants, Big Opportunity: The Forgotten Path to Financial Inclusion,” said small business owners represent a huge potential market. It estimated about 180 million micro merchants operate in developing countries and conduct business with more than 4.5 billion customers daily. These transactions, worth $6.5 trillion per year, are often cash-based.
Small merchants are entrepreneurs who run neighborhood kiosks, stores, restaurants, minimarkets and other enterprises. This economic sector could be an opportunity to drive the process of financial inclusion, where the poor are more able to access financial services at a cost they can afford, and enable cashless payment systems to develop and thrive in less developed parts of the world, the report said. That, in turn, would boost economic activity, create wealth and allow access to the broader world economy.
About the author
Jennifer Piettedisgeneration
Jennifer Ehidiamen is a Nigerian writer who is passionate about communications and journalism. She has worked as a reporter and communications consultant for different organizations in Nigeria and overseas. She has an undergraduate degree in mass communication from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, and M.A. in business and economics from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York. In 2014, she founded Rural Reporters (www.ruralreporters.com) with the goal of amplifying underreported news and issues affecting rural communities.
