What determines financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of financial inclusion (FI) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the World Bank country-level data from 20 SSA countries for the year 2014.

Findings

The empirical findings in this study indicate that illiteracy is the major hindrance to FI in SSA. The findings provide useful information to government agencies and international development organisations. Also, the findings can help accelerate and strengthen FI strategies among SSA countries.

Research limitations/implications

Some countries were excluded from the final analysis due to lack of data.

Practical implications

In the last two decades, there has been renewed interest in fighting financial exclusion in Africa. Therefore, this study provide evidence which clearly shows that enhancing literacy levels in a country can immensely contribute towards building the financially inclusive societies in the SSA region.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to empirically test the determinants of FI in SSA using the World Bank FI data set. Furthermore, this is the first attempt to estimate the determinants of FI with a combined data of SSA countries.

Citation

Chikalipah, S. (2017), "What determines financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa?", African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 8-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-01-2016-0007