Mobile money and financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

In this paper, we utilize survey data collected in 2017 from 12,735 individuals across nine Sub-Saharan African countries. We merge the survey data with geographic information related to the proximity of mobile network towers and banking facilities, based on the geo-locations of the respondents. Our estimation approach comprises a two-stage model. In the first stage, consumers make choices between adopting a feature phone or a smartphone. In the second stage, they make decisions regarding the use of mobile money services. Our findings reveal that network coverage significantly influences the adoption of mobile phones. Moreover, we observe that mobile money services are more favored by younger and relatively wealthier individuals for sending money, while older individuals and those with lower incomes tend to use mobile wallets for receiving money. Consequently, mobile money services facilitate younger migrant workers residing in areas with better infrastructure in providing support to their older relatives in less developed regions.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number101064
JournalInformation Economics and Policy
Volume65
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-6526-9663/work/150883819

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Financial inclusion, Mobile money, Sub-Saharan Africa