Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa: Is Institutional Quality Relevant?

Financial inclusion is seen as an enabler to growth in an economy, especially in developing regions like Africa. Despite the importance of financial inclusion, many factors play a role in one’s decision to get involved in the financial sector. This paper therefore examined the determinants of financ...

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Main Authors: Anthony Yaw Nsiah, George Tweneboah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Cogent Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2184305
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author Anthony Yaw Nsiah
George Tweneboah
author_facet Anthony Yaw Nsiah
George Tweneboah
author_sort Anthony Yaw Nsiah
collection DOAJ
description Financial inclusion is seen as an enabler to growth in an economy, especially in developing regions like Africa. Despite the importance of financial inclusion, many factors play a role in one’s decision to get involved in the financial sector. This paper therefore examined the determinants of financial inclusion in Africa, considering both demand and supply as well as infrastructure side factors using General Method of Moments (GMM) and the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) methods with data that spanned from 2004 to 2020. The study is a panel type that employed secondary data, that is sourced from the World Development Indicators, compiled by the World Bank. Twenty countries were purposively selected for the study based on data availability. The study revealed that GNI per capita, domestic credit to private sector and institution quality are significant determinants of financial inclusion in Africa. It was further revealed that GNI per capita, money supply and institutional quality contribute to the minimization of barriers to financial inclusion in the continent. This work is unique in the sense that it revealed the determinants of financial inclusion, using demand, supply and infrastructural factors in a single model, which is different from previous studies that examined the determinants using either demand only or supply only or both but not including infrastructural factors. Governments in the selected countries as well as development partners should therefore institute policies that would improve on financial inclusion, through the strengthening of institution, as well as take pragmatic measures to minimize barriers to financial inclusion in Africa.
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spelling doaj-art-1bc05c84adaf4e598bd5ef294402fce72025-08-20T03:31:27ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862023-12-019110.1080/23311886.2023.2184305Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa: Is Institutional Quality Relevant?Anthony Yaw Nsiah0George Tweneboah1Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Bank of Ghana, AccraGraduate School of Business Administration, University of the Witwatersrand, JohannesburgFinancial inclusion is seen as an enabler to growth in an economy, especially in developing regions like Africa. Despite the importance of financial inclusion, many factors play a role in one’s decision to get involved in the financial sector. This paper therefore examined the determinants of financial inclusion in Africa, considering both demand and supply as well as infrastructure side factors using General Method of Moments (GMM) and the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) methods with data that spanned from 2004 to 2020. The study is a panel type that employed secondary data, that is sourced from the World Development Indicators, compiled by the World Bank. Twenty countries were purposively selected for the study based on data availability. The study revealed that GNI per capita, domestic credit to private sector and institution quality are significant determinants of financial inclusion in Africa. It was further revealed that GNI per capita, money supply and institutional quality contribute to the minimization of barriers to financial inclusion in the continent. This work is unique in the sense that it revealed the determinants of financial inclusion, using demand, supply and infrastructural factors in a single model, which is different from previous studies that examined the determinants using either demand only or supply only or both but not including infrastructural factors. Governments in the selected countries as well as development partners should therefore institute policies that would improve on financial inclusion, through the strengthening of institution, as well as take pragmatic measures to minimize barriers to financial inclusion in Africa.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2184305Financial inclusionDemand-side factorsSupply-side factorsInstitutional qualityFinancial barriersAfrica
spellingShingle Anthony Yaw Nsiah
George Tweneboah
Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa: Is Institutional Quality Relevant?
Cogent Social Sciences
Financial inclusion
Demand-side factors
Supply-side factors
Institutional quality
Financial barriers
Africa
title Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa: Is Institutional Quality Relevant?
title_full Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa: Is Institutional Quality Relevant?
title_fullStr Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa: Is Institutional Quality Relevant?
title_full_unstemmed Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa: Is Institutional Quality Relevant?
title_short Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa: Is Institutional Quality Relevant?
title_sort determinants of financial inclusion in africa is institutional quality relevant
topic Financial inclusion
Demand-side factors
Supply-side factors
Institutional quality
Financial barriers
Africa
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2184305
work_keys_str_mv AT anthonyyawnsiah determinantsoffinancialinclusioninafricaisinstitutionalqualityrelevant
AT georgetweneboah determinantsoffinancialinclusioninafricaisinstitutionalqualityrelevant