Digital finance as a mechanism for extending the boundaries of financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa: A general methods of moments approach

Abstract

To address the Sustainable Development Goals of poverty eradication, hunger elimination, unemployment and inequality reduction, it is pertinent to pursue a sustainable all-inclusive financial growth that will be delivered on digital financial platforms. With the revolution in the financial technology space occasioned by competition among financial market intermediaries, there is no doubt that more unbanked and under-banked citizens will be captured into the formal financial net of the economy. This study investigated the dynamic causality amid digital finance and financial inclusion using ten years (2007–2017) secondary data obtained from the World Bank data base in 27 sub-Saharan African countries. The analysis was done using Granger Error Correction Method (ECM) with General Methods of Moments (GMM). The result showed a positive long-run correlation between digital finance and financial inclusion. Thus, for the overall sample the ECM coefficient (−0.30) has probability value of 0%. It therefore recommends amongst others that monetary authorities of emerging and developing economies in sub-Sahara African countries should embrace digital financial technologies by encouraging commercial banks to install more ATMs and discourage acceptance of cash payment and withdrawals within established thresholds across bank counters in their respective countries.

Keywords

• financial inclusion
• digital finance
• financial intermediation
• poverty reduction