Financial Inclusion and Electricity Uptake

Megan Lang and Alpha Ly

No 12921, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Even as governments push to build infrastructure to achieve universal access to electricity, demand-side barriers constrain uptake where infrastructure already exists. This paper assesses the impact of the quasi-experimental introduction of mobile money on electricity adoption by households. We conduct a granular district-level analysis of 33 sub-Saharan African countries that leverages differential sub-national mobile network coverage. We find that mobile money access improves district-level power uptake by around 24% relative to similar districts without mobile money access. We provide evidence consistent with demand-side channels, specifically reduced financial frictions, driving this relationship as opposed to supply-side infrastructure expansion. Furthermore, we highlight the enabling role of mobile network coverage and the detrimental impact of mobile money taxes on electrification efforts.

Keywords: mobile money; financial inclusion; electrification; demand-side factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O16 O33 Q40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12921

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