Factors that matter for financial inclusion: Evidence from Sub-Sharan Africa - The Zimbabwe case
- Authors: Mhlanga, David
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Agricultural sector , Factors , Financial inclusion
- Language: Language
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/488753 , uj:44537 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2021-0152 , Citation: Mhlanga, D., 2021. Factors that matter for financial inclusion: Evidence from Sub-Sharan Africa - The Zimbabwe case. , E-ISSN 2281-4612
- Description: Abstract: The study intended to investigate the factors that are important in influencing the financial inclusion of smallholder farming households in Sub-Saharan Africa with a specific focus on Zimbabwe. Motivated by the fact that there is an increase in the evidence of the importance of financial inclusion in fighting poverty and the fact that by merely having a bank account, financial inclusion cannot be guaranteed, the study went further to interrogate factors that influence smallholder farmers to have a transaction account, to borrow and to have insurance. Since the dependent variable of financial inclusion had more than two categories, with three unordered categories, transaction account, savings/credit account, and insurance, the multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the determinants of financial inclusion from these three categories of the dependent variable. The multinomial logit model results, with insurance as the reference category, indicated that the size of the household, transaction costs, gender and agricultural extension service were the factors influencing the demand for a household to open a transaction account. On the other hand, off-farm income and age of the household were the only two factors significantly influencing households to borrow. Therefore, it is imperative for, the government of Zimbabwe to come up with more policies that encourage farmers to participate in the formal financial market as financial inclusion can help to fight poverty and the general developments of societies.
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Understanding the drivers of financial inclusion in South Africa
- Authors: Mhlanga, David , Dunga, Steven H. , Moloi, Tankiso
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Financial inclusion , Logit model , Drivers
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/488621 , uj:44519 , Citation: Mhlanga, D., Dunga, S.H. & Moloi, T., 2021, ‘Understanding the drivers of financial inclusion in South Africa’, Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences 14(1), a594. https://doi. org/10.4102/jef.v14i1.594 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jef.v14i1.594 , ISSN: (Online) 2312-2803, (Print) 1995-7076
- Description: Abstract: Orientation: Financial inclusion is becoming one of the attractive topics at the global level with policymakers, development partners, governments and financial institutions developing interest in understanding it more deeply. Research purpose: The study sought to establish the drivers of financial inclusion in South Africa with a focus on factors that influences ownership of an investment account. Motivation for the study: Motivated by the increase in the evidence of the importance of financial inclusion in fighting poverty and the fact that by merely having a bank account, financial inclusion cannot be guaranteed, the study interrogated the factors that influence households to have an investment account. Research approach/design and method: As the dependent variable of financial inclusion was binary, the logistic regression was used to estimate the drivers of financial inclusion. The variable assumed two values 0 and 1, where 1 represents access to an investment account and 0 otherwise. Main findings: Using the logit model, the study discovered that financial inclusion is driven by age, education level, the total salary proxy of income, race, and marital status. Practical/managerial implications: The differences in the probability of demand for financial products and services amongst the different races mean that products and services tailormade to satisfy the needs of the different races, for coloured and black people these products and services should be designed to improve financial inclusion amongst them. Contribution/value-add: The study managed to discover the factors that influences households to have an investment account in South Africa.
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Banca móvil en el Africa Sub-Sahariana: asentando el camino hacia el desarrollo financiero
- Authors: Rouse, Marybeth , Verhoef, Grietjie
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Financial development , Financial inclusion , Mobile technology
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/256036 , uj:26870 , Citation: Rouse, M. & Verhoef, G. 2017. Banca móvil en el Africa Sub-Sahariana: asentando el camino hacia el desarrollo financiero.
- Description: Abstract: The importance of financial development for long-term economic growth has been recognised by policy-makers arounds the world. Fast growing economies with limited formal banking services experience greater financial exclusion. The explosion in mobile phone technology in Africa saw the rapid development of mobile banking. Many countries in Africa have poor retail banking network infrastructure especially in the rural areas. Mobile communication networks introduced innovative products to extend mobile banking into remote rural locations. The development of mobile banking has contributed towards enhanced financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In less than ten years, Kenya has become the leading country in SSA for mobile banking penetration and mobile banking has been instrumental in providing access to financial services to the previously unbanked. This article surveys the state of economic development in Africa as contextualisation of subsequent trends in banking developments in SSA.
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Mobile banking in Africa : the current state of play
- Authors: Rouse, M. , Verhoef, G.
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mobile technology , Financial inclusion , Banking
- Language: English
- Type: Book Chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/244429 , uj:25274 , Citation: Rouse, M. & Verhoef, G. 2017. Mobile banking in Africa : the current state of play.
- Description: Abstract: Fast growing economies with limited formal banking services experience greater financial exclusion and transaction curtailment, but mobile technology offers fast cheap money transfers and facilitates transactions. African appetite for mobile banking developed along the explosion in mobile phone technology. Mobile phone companies stood up to the challenge, but had to address peculiar geographies of remoteness and inaccessibility. Strategies of financial inclusion were developed by the sophisticated financial system in South Africa, which affected the unbanked’s demand for mobile money services. M-Pesa is the most successful and fastest growing mobile money service product. It has already delivered numerous innovations in mobile money products and services. Regulatory rigidity affected the take-up of mobile money services in some African markets, but overall mobile communication networks introduced innovative products to extend mobile banking into remote rural locations. The rapidly expanding mobile money service market stimulates entrepreneurial activity, creates employment and serves as a major contributor to state revenue where liberal market economic policies permit.
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