Mobile banking in Sub-Saharan Africa: setting the way towards financial development

Marybeth Rouse and Grietjie Verhoef ()

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

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.

Keywords: financial development; financial inclusion; mobile technology; retail banking; Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G21 O1 O3 O5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-ict, nep-mfd and nep-pay
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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