Saving on the Phone - Evidence from Ghanaian Cocoa Farmers

The poor and rural population in Sub Saharan Africa suffers from low financial inclusion. Yet, excluding population parts from accessing formal financial services means lost opportunity for household level, as well as for the whole economy. Evidence suggests that formal saving helps to accumulate larger amounts: Recent studies show how saving contributes to smoothing consumption and increasing resilience. A powerful tool for enhancing marginalized groups’ financial inclusion are mobile financial services. In Ghana’s rapidly developing banking and savings sector open questions remain. We investigate factors affecting Ghanaian cocoa farmers decision to save, as well as their savings amount. Among other factors, we focus on different savings instruments such as mobile saving on the phone, bank accounts or the traditional group saving method Susu. We employ data from a structured telephone survey conducted in 2021 among 405 randomly sampled cocoa farmers. The results of a two-step Heckman approach show that, while Susu or a bank account enhance savings, saving on the phone is associated with lower amounts. However, female farmers seem to benefit from this technology. In the light of recent policies issued by the Ghanaian government, directed at fortifying the digital finance sector, our results provide valuable information for public policy makers as well as the private sector.