Studies of financial superstructures in developing countries have shown that financial structures in these countries are dualistic in nature. On the one hand, there exists a set of institutions comprising the formal financial sector (FFS). This is the legally-regulated part of the financial system, and consists of institutions like the central and commercial banks (i.e., the banking system), near-banks, insurance companies, and development banks, to mention a few. Normally, the rest of these formal financial institutions (FFIs) are by law under the direct control of the central bank. On the other hand, there are institutions that are virtually outside the control of the established legal framework. These are the informal financial institutions (IFIs) such as moneylenders, rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), landlords, neighbours, traders, etc. The basic feature of these institutions is that they participate in the saving-investment process on an informal basis, and are the financial part of what is commonly known as the informal sector. The nature, scope, role and technologies of the IFIs appear to differ fundamentally from those of the FFIs, as will become clearer later on in this study