When you follow the media in Burundi, you hear of many cases of failed attempts at providing microfinance services. The victims, having lost their hard-earned savings, are crying out for help. This is not unusual in the region. Unfortunately!

If you traverse the countryside, you see a hard working and energetic people. Stop at a roadside market or stall and you will be mobbed by people aggressively attempting to sell you various items, mainly foodstuffs, fresh from their gardens.

Everywhere you look, be it rural or urban, people are moving at a trot, from the garden or to the markets.

It is a well known fact that most commercial banks do not target the low-end farmers and entrepreneurs.

This leaves a big unserved and unserviced niche, as the bulk of the entrepreneurial Burundian population is denied capital for expansion and development.

This is also common in the other East African countries, where over 80% of the population is rural and does not have access to finance.

In a survey conducted by Finscope in Tanzania in 2005, only 6% of the adult population had a bank account.

Who will therefore fill the gap?

Africa's entrepreneurs play a very important role in creating a positive future, especially those who work within the informal sector.

This is a call to all stakeholders in the promotion of professional MFIs to put their act together to avoid the negative setbacks that give the sector a bad name and deny development to this deserving constituency.

Microfinance industry needs to offer support including loans, credit, savings, money transfer services, and microinsurance products to serve an eager underbanked market.

The rural folk have always shown an incredibly high level of honesty and integrity.

Added to that is the fact that they keep all their savings under the belt. This is a recipe for a good savings and banking industry.

About 85% of Burundians are engaged in agriculture and yet 90% of financial services are found in the urban areas. For any investor interested in business, the catch is in the countryside. Cast the net.