Mobile phone penetration, mobile banking and inclusive development in Africa

Simplice A. Asongu (African Governance and Development Institute, Yaoundé, Cameroon), Jacinta C. Nwachukwu (School of Economics, Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Business and Law, Coventry University, Coventry, UK)

The study assesses the role of mobile phones and mobile banking in decreasing inequality in 52 African countries. The empirical procedure involves first, examining the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration and then investigating the contribution of mobile banking services in this relationship. The findings suggest an equalizing income-redistributive effect of "mobile phone penetration" and "mobile banking", with a higher income-equalizing effect from mobile banking compared to mobile phone penetration. Poverty alleviation channels explaining this difference in inequality mitigating propensity are discussed.

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Year of publication:	January 2016
Authors:	Asongu, Simplice ; Nwachukwu, Jacinta C.
Publisher:	[Yaoundé] : African Governance and Development Institute
Subject:	Banking \| Mobile Phones \| Shadow Economy \| Financial Development \| Africa \| Mobiltelefon \| Mobile phone \| Afrika \| Electronic Banking \| Electronic banking \| Mobilkommunikation \| Mobile communications \| Entwicklung \| Economic development \| Schattenwirtschaft \| Underground economy \| Subsahara-Afrika \| Sub-Saharan Africa \| Finanzsystem \| Financial system \| Elektronisches Zahlungsmittel \| Electronic payment