Banking: a sector in search of capital.

Banking in Haiti is still in the early stages of development and less than one in ten of the country's eight million inhabitants have a bank account. In total 12 banks have licenses to operate in Haiti though in reality most of these are little more than pocket banks of rich Haitians. Severely undercapitalized, the sector is dominated by three main banks, among which is Banque Nationale de Credit, which together control 60% of the market. La Banque Nationale de Credit, BNC, is Haiti's first commercial bank and was founded in 1880. Having for years enjoyed a position of quasi monopoly, BNC had to adjust to the explosion of the banking sector of the 1990's. "In 1998, The Haitian government, sole owner of BNC took measures to restructure the institution. The National Bank of Credit modernized its operations, human resources and financial structure. Today, BNC operates at the highest standard and enjoys a great reputation. BNC is ranked 4th for its total assets >> says Guiteau Toussaint, Chairman of the Board. Given the potential of the market, that may be understandable; the rate of bank penetration is estimated at just 7%, leaving plenty of room for future growth.

With the economy still so fragile and underdeveloped, financing that potential growth however is the biggest challenge facing the sector. 'We are trying to diversify our profit sources as much as possible, like our competitors,' says Toussaint, who explains that BNC is encouraging the Haitian Diaspora to repatriate money and invest in the banking sector. 'There is a growing market searching for capitalization here. We need to make a major effort to publicize that and to find investors.'