Title: Financial inclusion, poverty and growth in Africa: can institutions help?

Authors: Eric Boachie Yiadom; Raymond K. Dziwornu; Stephen Yalley

Addresses: Department of Banking and Finance, University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana ' Department of Banking and Finance, University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana ' Department of Finance, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

Abstract: The study examines the role of institutions in explaining long-run effect of financial inclusion on poverty levels and economic growth in Africa. Dynamic panel regression of 42 economies over the 2011-2018 period to show that institutional quality is robust in the financial inclusion-growth nexus as well as financial inclusion-poverty reduction linkage. We report that countries with strong institutions reap the dividends associated with financial inclusion by slashing down poverty and improving per capita GDP. The findings are robust to the use of five different measures of financial inclusion - deposit, access to credit, number of bank branches and ATM access.

Keywords: institutions; institutional quality; financial inclusion; poverty; growth; financial exclusion.

DOI: 10.1504/AJESD.2021.114535

African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development, 2021 Vol.8 No.2, pp.91 - 110

Received: 03 Feb 2020
Accepted: 11 Oct 2020
Published online: 26 Apr 2021 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article