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Mobile Phone Penetration, Mobile Banking and Inclusive Development in Africa

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  • Asongu, Simplice
  • Nwachukwu, Jacinta C.

Abstract

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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  • Asongu, Simplice & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2016. "Mobile Phone Penetration, Mobile Banking and Inclusive Development in Africa," MPRA Paper 74650, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:74650
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    Cited by:

    1. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Basic formal education quality, information technology, and inclusive human development in sub‐Saharan Africa," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 419-428, May.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2020. "Remittances, the diffusion of information and industrialisation in Africa," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 98-117, January.
    3. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2018. "Recent finance advances in information technology for inclusive development: a systematic review," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 65-93, October.
    4. Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "Mobile Phone Innovation and Technology-driven Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 17/042, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    5. Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "A Survey on Inequality-Adjusted Human Development in Africa," Africagrowth Agenda, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 14(1), pages 4-7.
    6. Asongu, Simplice A. & Le Roux, Sara, 2017. "Enhancing ICT for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 44-54.
    7. Simplice Asongu & Nicholas Odhiambo, 2017. "Mobile banking usage, quality of growth, inequality and poverty in developing countries," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 17/046, African Governance and Development Institute..
    8. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2018. "Human development thresholds for inclusive mobile banking in developing countries," African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(6), pages 735-744, September.
    9. Asongu, Simplice & Nwachukwu, Jacinta, 2017. "Building Knowledge Economies in Africa: A Survey of Policies and Strategies," MPRA Paper 81701, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Uchenna R. Efobi & Belmondo V. Tanankem & Simplice A. Asongu, 2018. "Female Economic Participation with Information and Communication Technology Advancement: Evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 86(2), pages 231-246, June.
    11. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2017. "Recent finance advances in information technology for inclusive development: a survey," Research Africa Network Working Papers 17/009, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    12. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2018. "Educational quality thresholds in the diffusion of knowledge with mobile phones for inclusive human development in sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 164-172.
    13. Mark Edem Kunawotor & Godfred Alufar Bokpin & Patrick O. Asuming & Kofi A. Amoateng, 2022. "The distributional effects of fiscal and monetary policies in Africa," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(1), pages 127-146, June.
    14. Uchenna R. Efobi & Belmondo V. Tanankem & Simplice A. Asongu, 2016. "Technological Advancement and the Evolving Gender Identities: A Focus on the Level of Female Economic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 16/045, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    15. Simplice Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2017. "Comparative human development thresholds for absolute and relative pro-poor mobile banking in developing countries," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 17/007, African Governance and Development Institute..
    16. Danquah, Michael & Iddrisu, Abdul Malik, 2018. "Access to mobile phones and the wellbeing of non-farm enterprise households: Evidence from Ghana," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-9.
    17. Jeremiah O. Ejemeyovwi & Evans S. Osabuohien, 2020. "Investigating the relevance of mobile technology adoption on inclusive growth in West Africa," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 48-61, January.
    18. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2017. "Not all that glitters is gold: ICT and inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," International Journal of Happiness and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(4), pages 303-322.
    19. Simplice A. Asongu & Ndemaze Asongu, 2019. "The Role of Mobile Phones in Governance-Driven Technology Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(2), pages 849-867, June.
    20. Dominic E. Azuh & Jeremiah O. Ejemeyovwi & Queen Adiat & Babatunde A. Ayanda, 2020. "Innovation and Human Development Perspectives in West Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    21. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C. & Orim, Stella-Maris I., 2018. "Mobile phones, institutional quality and entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 183-203.
    22. Efobi, Uchenna & Tanankem, Belmondo & Asongu, Simplice, 2018. "Female Economic Participation with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Advancement: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 87864, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Ahmad Hassan Ahmad & Christopher Green & Fei Jiang, 2020. "Mobile Money, Financial Inclusion And Development: A Review With Reference To African Experience," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 753-792, September.
    24. Ahmad, Ahmad Hassan & Green, Christopher J. & Jiang, Fei & Murinde, Victor, 2023. "Mobile money, ICT, financial inclusion and growth: How different is Africa?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    25. Joseph Ochieng Onginjo & Zhou Dong Mei, 2023. "A study on the social and economic sustainability of rewards-based crowdfunding in Africa," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 9619-9646, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Banking; Mobile Phones; Shadow Economy; Financial Development; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E00 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - General
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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