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Microfinance is the provision of financial services to the financially excluded, usually the poor. We use literature reviews and descriptive research to present different aspects of the relationship of the microfinancial services to microenterprise. The first thrust in this field had been from microcredit and group lending to encourage business initiatives among the poor. The hope that these services would lift them out of poverty had largely built the brand image of the sector. However, the spread of consumer microcredit and uncontrolled growth of microfinance led to over-lending without adequate checks and balances, leading to over-indebtedness and associated stress, and critique of microcredit. To restore balance, other financial products, such as microequity, microsavings, microinsurance, microguarantees, and microremittances, have been suggested. We place these developments in a social innovation process perspective by showing that microfinance, through its wide range of innovatively distributed products, can be a key factor to foster entrepreneurship.

L’adoption de l’approche commerciale du microcrédit, qui prend de plus en plus le dessus sur l’approche subventionnée, s’accompagne de la transformation des relations entre les banques et les institutions de microcrédit (IMC). Cette relation, quasi absente dans les premières années d’expérience du microcrédit, devient à la fois complémentaire et concurrentielle. La théorie de l’innovation est mobilisée dans cet article pour montrer que la transformation des relations banques / IMC n’est pas un paradoxe, mais une étape du processus de diffusion d’une innovation sociale ayant une forme servicielle, en l’occurrence le microcrédit. L’exemple du Togo révèle l’amorce à partir de 2005 d’une relation de complémentarité et des signes qui laissent présager une forte concurrence.Commercial approach of microcredit, which takes more and more the top on the subsidized approach, is accompanied by a transformation of banks / institutions of the microcredit (IMC) relations. This relation, which was absent in the first years of microcredit experiences, becomes nowadays more and more complementary and competitive. Innovation theory is mobilized in this paper to show that this transformation of banks / IMC relation is not a paradox but a result of diffusion process of social innovation, in fact the microcredit. The example of Togo shows that from 2005 a complementary relation starts with signs that predict a strong competition.La adopción del enfoque comercial del microcrédito, que adopta progresivamente primacía sobre el enfoque subvencionado, acompaña la transformación de las relaciones bancos / instituciones de microfinanzas (IMC). Esta relación, casi ausente en los primeros años de las experiencias de microcrédito, es a la vez complementaria y competitiva. En este artículo se ha recurrido a la teoría de la innovación para mostrar que la transformación de las relaciones bancos / IMC, no es una paradoja sino una etapa en el proceso de difusión de una innovación social que adopta una forma servicial, es decir, el microcrédito. El ejemplo de Togo muestra el inicio a partir de 2005, de una relación de complementariedad y signos que anuncian una fuerte competencia

This article highlights the effects of Digital Transformation as a General Purpose Technology and bank stability on banking inclusion and thus on financial inclusion in Sub‐Saharan African countries. We use simultaneous panel model estimates covering 36 Sub‐Saharan African countries from 2004 to 2017. The results show positive and significant effects of digital transformation as general purpose technology and bank stability on financial inclusion. The results show also that the effect of digital transformation on financial inclusion is more substantial when the banking sector is stable.

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