CALL FOR PROPOSALS AERC RESEARCH PROJECT ON FINANCIAL SECTOR REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
Introduction
The financial system is of crucial importance in any decentralised economy. Irrespective of the causal relationships between finance and growth, the financial system is the central set of institutions and markets that promote the dissemination and co-ordination of information about resource availability at every level throughout the economy – thus enabling efficient allocation of scarce resources. In the last few years, international bodies and academic researchers have paid increased attention to the economic potential of Africa, particularly following on the economic and financial reforms that have been made in the last decade. The focus on finance arises because evidence suggests that financial markets in Africa are substantially less well-developed than those elsewhere in the world on virtually all measures of financial development, and the possibility that finance could play a key role in furthering economic growth in Africa.