Financial Inclusion in South Africa

In Decemeber 2011, FinMark Trust launched the FinScope 2011 survey - for the past five years the finscope survey has been released annually. The FinScope survey is a research tool that was developed by FinMark Trust. It is a nationally representative survey of how individuals source their incomes, and how they manage their financial lives. It also provides insight into attitudes and perceptions regarding financial products and services. To date, FinScope surveys have been conducted or initiated in 17 countries.

Some of the highlights of the survey include:

In 2011, 27% of South Africans are financially excluded, an increase from 23.4% in 2010

34% of South Africans (16 years and older) have/use savings products

61% South Africans (16 years and older)  do not use any form of credit products

14% of South African adults have credit/loan products offered by a bank

26% of adult South Africans are either sending (5.2 million) or receiving (5.3 million) money to or from family members, parents and children

42% of individuals who remitted in the 12 months prior to the survey did so through a bank account or banking product such as MPesa, eWallet or CashSend

For more information about the 2011 survey, visit www.finscope.co.za

Data: World AIDS Day

Data published in the UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report 2011 show that:

• An estimated 34 million (between 31.6 million and 35.2 million) people were living with HIV worldwide at the end of 2010 – up 17% over 2001.
• In 2010, 2.7 million (between 2.4 million and 2.9 million) people were newly infected with HIV - this is about 21% less than the annual number of new infections at the peak of the epidemic in 1997.
• The number of people dying of AIDS-related causes fell to 1.8 million [1.6 million–1.9 million] in 2010, down from a peak of 2.2 million in the mid-2000s.
• A total of 2.5 million deaths have been averted in low- and middle-income countries since 1995 due to antiretroviral therapy being introduced.
• The proportion of women living with HIV has remained stable at 50% globally, although women are more affected in sub-Saharan Africa (59% of all people living with HIV) and the Caribbean (53%).
• An estimated 6.6 million people are now receiving antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries, covering nearly half of those who are eligible for treatment.
• Eliminating new HIV infections in children is within our grasp. In 2010, nearly 50 percent of pregnant women living with HIV received antiretroviral therapy to prevent transmitting the virus to their child.

Estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS in each region (2010) :

Caribbean	200,000
East Asia and Pacific	790,000
East Europe and Central Asia	1,500,000
Latin America	1,500,000
Middle East and North Africa	470,000
North America	1,300,000
Oceania	54,000
South and South-East Asia	4,000,000
Sub-Saharan Africa	22,900,000
Western and Central Europe	840,000

Source: UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report 2011 and the World Bank