Banking the Missing Middle

Risk, Distance, and SME Credit in the West African Monetary Union
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-3-032-34581-3
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 149 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 384 g

Reihe: Research Series on Responsible Enterprise Ecosystems

This book examines why small and medium-sized enterprises in Francophone West Africa remain central to employment, trade, and private-sector growth yet continue to face constrained access to formal bank credit. Drawing on original evidence from Burkina Faso and interpreting it within the common monetary and supervisory architecture of UMOA/WAEMU, the book argues that the SME financing gap cannot be explained by borrower weakness or generic banker caution alone. It is produced through the interaction of information asymmetry, risk assessment, collateral requirements, documentation burdens, branch geography, approval hierarchies, and the internal organization of bank lending. Combining academic analysis with banking-sector experience, the book develops a practical policy architecture for banks, regulators, development finance institutions, and SME support agencies seeking to widen productive credit without weakening prudential discipline.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sory, Kouafilann Abdoulaye

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Management
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Finanzsektor & Finanzdienstleistungen Finanzsektor & Finanzdienstleistungen: Allgemeines
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Wirtschaftswachstum
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Forschung und Information Risikobewertung, Risikotheorie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Unternehmensorganisation, Corporate Responsibility Selbstständige & Freiberufler

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1. General Introduction.- Chapter 2. The Economic Stakes of SME Finance in Burkina Faso and WAMU.- Chapter 3. Risk, Distance, and Information in a Shared Banking Space.- Chapter 4. Banks, Branches, and Borrowers in Burkina Faso and the WAMU Banking Space.- Chapter 5. How Banks Decide in the WAMU Banking Space.- Chapter 6. Data, Measurement, and Empirical Strategy: Burkina Faso Evidence, WAMU Relevance.- Chapter 7. What Drives SME Lending? Evidence from Burkina Faso and Lessons for WAMU.- Chapter 8. From Burkina Faso to WAMU: What Travels and What Varies.

Über Autor(innen)

Dr. Kouafilann Abdoulaye Sory is a West African finance executive, banking professional, and researcher with more than three decades of experience in banking, SME finance, capital mobilization, and investment. He has led Fidelis Finance for over twenty-five years and has overseen its development as a specialized financial institution serving SMEs and productive investment within the UMOA space. He is also Chairman of AfriCapital Partners, a pan-African investment company supporting high-potential businesses.

He holds a PhD in International Business Management with a specialization in Behavioural Finance from the Franklin Hudson International School of Management. His research focuses on banking, SME finance, information asymmetry, risk behaviour and the institutional conditions that shape access to credit in West Africa. His professional and research experience connects empirical analysis with practical questions of regulation, risk assessment, relationship lending, and enterprise development.