Exploring the Channels of Financial Inclusion’s Impact on Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa

There is no doubt that Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to many financially excluded persons, and the sub-region accounts for a high proportion of the world’s poor. Despite the co-existence of low level of financial inclusion (FI) and high poverty level in SSA, little attention has been given to emp...

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Main Authors: Musa Abdullahi Sakanko, Nurudeen Abu, Awadh Ahmed Mohammed Gamal, Salimatu Rufai Mohammed
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Editura Universităţii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iaşi / Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi Publishing house 2025-06-01
Series:Scientific Annals of Economics and Business
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Online Access:https://saeb.feaa.uaic.ro/index.php/saeb/article/view/2887
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author Musa Abdullahi Sakanko
Nurudeen Abu
Awadh Ahmed Mohammed Gamal
Salimatu Rufai Mohammed
author_facet Musa Abdullahi Sakanko
Nurudeen Abu
Awadh Ahmed Mohammed Gamal
Salimatu Rufai Mohammed
author_sort Musa Abdullahi Sakanko
collection DOAJ
description There is no doubt that Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to many financially excluded persons, and the sub-region accounts for a high proportion of the world’s poor. Despite the co-existence of low level of financial inclusion (FI) and high poverty level in SSA, little attention has been given to empirical linkage between these two phenomena. This research attempts to unravel the channels through which FI (measured by the composite financial inclusion index developed using the Principal Component Analysis) impact poverty reduction in a sample of 25 SSA countries. The system-Generalized Method of Moments (i.e., system-GMM) estimator was employed to analyze data for the 2004-2022 period. The empirical outcomes portray that the FI-poverty reduction relation is non-linear, and it identify income growth, consumption expenditure, agricultural output, and unemployment as the channels through which FI influences poverty reduction in the SSA region. The findings further reveal that an FI value beyond thresholds of 1.44 and 5.25 increases income growth and reduces unemployment, thereby reducing poverty. Additionally, an FI value below thresholds of 2.87 and 1.40 positively impacts consumption expenditure and agricultural output, leading to poverty reduction. The study recommends that the monetary authorities in SSA adopt policies which increase the access to financial services and promote financial literacy to enhance financial inclusion and reduce poverty.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Editura Universităţii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iaşi / Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi Publishing house
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spelling doaj-art-ce5d1dfb7d0b4ea6928037faa3037d062025-08-20T03:23:51ZengEditura Universităţii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iaşi / Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi Publishing houseScientific Annals of Economics and Business2501-31652025-06-0172221323610.47743/saeb-2025-00111918Exploring the Channels of Financial Inclusion’s Impact on Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan AfricaMusa Abdullahi Sakanko0Nurudeen Abu1Awadh Ahmed Mohammed Gamal2Salimatu Rufai Mohammed3University of Jos, Plateau StateBaba-Ahmed UniversitySultan Idris Education UniversityAir Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna StateThere is no doubt that Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to many financially excluded persons, and the sub-region accounts for a high proportion of the world’s poor. Despite the co-existence of low level of financial inclusion (FI) and high poverty level in SSA, little attention has been given to empirical linkage between these two phenomena. This research attempts to unravel the channels through which FI (measured by the composite financial inclusion index developed using the Principal Component Analysis) impact poverty reduction in a sample of 25 SSA countries. The system-Generalized Method of Moments (i.e., system-GMM) estimator was employed to analyze data for the 2004-2022 period. The empirical outcomes portray that the FI-poverty reduction relation is non-linear, and it identify income growth, consumption expenditure, agricultural output, and unemployment as the channels through which FI influences poverty reduction in the SSA region. The findings further reveal that an FI value beyond thresholds of 1.44 and 5.25 increases income growth and reduces unemployment, thereby reducing poverty. Additionally, an FI value below thresholds of 2.87 and 1.40 positively impacts consumption expenditure and agricultural output, leading to poverty reduction. The study recommends that the monetary authorities in SSA adopt policies which increase the access to financial services and promote financial literacy to enhance financial inclusion and reduce poverty.https://saeb.feaa.uaic.ro/index.php/saeb/article/view/2887financial inclusionpoverty reductionprincipal component analsysissystem-gmm.
spellingShingle Musa Abdullahi Sakanko
Nurudeen Abu
Awadh Ahmed Mohammed Gamal
Salimatu Rufai Mohammed
Exploring the Channels of Financial Inclusion’s Impact on Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
Scientific Annals of Economics and Business
financial inclusion
poverty reduction
principal component analsysis
system-gmm.
title Exploring the Channels of Financial Inclusion’s Impact on Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full Exploring the Channels of Financial Inclusion’s Impact on Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr Exploring the Channels of Financial Inclusion’s Impact on Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the Channels of Financial Inclusion’s Impact on Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_short Exploring the Channels of Financial Inclusion’s Impact on Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort exploring the channels of financial inclusion s impact on poverty reduction in sub saharan africa
topic financial inclusion
poverty reduction
principal component analsysis
system-gmm.
url https://saeb.feaa.uaic.ro/index.php/saeb/article/view/2887
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AT awadhahmedmohammedgamal exploringthechannelsoffinancialinclusionsimpactonpovertyreductioninsubsaharanafrica
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