On a continent that carries a disproportionate share of many diseases from HIV-AIDS to high blood pressure, access to finance poses a major challenge to the small clinics that serve so many lower and middle class Africans. These clinics often struggle to access even small amounts of credit to maintain or expand their facilities.In a recent post on this blog, Jason Lamb discussed the problem of financial exclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa, where almost 80 percent of the population lacks access to basic financial services like a checking or savings account. But it is important to note the individuals are not the only ones left out of the supposedly mainstream financial system. Small businesses also struggle to access credit and when the small business is a health clinic, the problem impacts not only economic health, but the overall health of a community.
