This study investigates the relationship between competition and the risk-taking attitude of banks. We test how this relationship manifests in the Sub-Saharan African(SSA) region's commercial banks in light of the competition-fragility view, using the generalised methods of moments. We studied 440 commercial banks in 37 SSA countries over the period 2006-2015. The results provide evidence that supports a positive relationship between competition and banks' overall risk as well as their credit risk but suggests that off-balance sheet risk reduces with competition. We, therefore, conclude that the propensity to undertake higher risk in a competitive banking environment largely accounts for fragility as argued in the competitionfragility view.

Abstract. This study assesses the competitive environment and the determinants of the Sub-Saharan Africa commercial banking sectors. We used the Lerner index that is generally acknowledged as the best at estimating the bank level competition and the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to study 440 commercial banks for the period 2006 to 2015. We found a monopolistic competitive banking market. We also observed that competition is driven by the level of bank capital including some bank specific variables. Hence, we concluded that the banking market of the SSA region is contestable and competitive. As such, we recommend, among other things, that policy makers should device measures to ensure an ongoing competitive banking environment while stimulating other economic variables to complement this feat. JEL classification: G21, L10

The excessive cost of financial intermediation in the Sub-Saharan African banking sectors motivates the investigation of whether competition, regulation and stability matter for efficiency in the banking system. Data from 440 commercial banks for the periods 2006-2015 were collected and analysed by seven-variable panel structural vector autoregressive model. There was evidence to show that efficiency responds positively and significantly to shocks in capital, liquidity and asset quality regulations and competition. However, the results reveal all the variables responding to one standard deviation shock in efficiency, suggesting that while the variables matter for efficiency, they all also require efficiency for their effective operation. Hence, the conclusion is that efficiency is central to the effective running of the banking system.

Whether finance enhances growth has continued to be a major debate among academics in the bids to drive economic growth and development. Hitherto, empirical studies focusing on Africa in addressing these issues for the expected regional sustainable growth are rare. This study applied structural equation modelling to simultaneously analyse mobile phones diffusion, financial inclusion, and economic growth in a panel of 32 African countries over the period from 2004 to 2016. The results provided evidence that financial inclusion affects economic growth via mobile phones. This study has implication for managing the deployment of mobile phones by for finance and growth relevance in Africa.

Investigating the competition-stability view in relation to the banking sector, the intention behind this study was to find out how far efficiency is associated with a competitive banking environment and if it warrants the continued agitation towards fostering increased competition in banking markets around the world. This view has significant support in spite of the potential instability that could possibly result from risk appetite, which the competition-fragility view holds to be associated with competition. We employed a stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to model an instrumental variable of competition resulting from increased efficiency or inefficiency due to bank-level competition, which we used in the regression of competition against stability using the generalized method of moments (GMM). We found that competition increased the efficiency of the banking sector over the study period. The regression results of our instrument against stability in the Sub-Saharan Africa region was found to be positive and strongly significant with stability providing evidence of transmission from competition to efficiency to stability, and, hence consistent with competition-stability views. Our conclusion is that while competition is desirable, it must be optimized to enhance efficiency without which the effects become detrimental. Therefore, there must be ongoing regulation to check excessive competition.