Demand-driven determinants and self-reported barriers to financial inclusion in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)

Abstract

"Access to finance for all" has gained attention in the international development agenda in recent years. In the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the issue of financial inclusion is set at the level of priority but in several dimensions of financial inclusion, countries of the union lag behind the Sub-Saharan Africa and Asian benchmark countries. In this paper, factors that are important for financial inclusion in WAEMU are identified and it is investigated whether these factors are correlated with self-reported barriers to financial inclusion using the 2014 Gallup World Poll Survey data. The results indicate that, the variables: Age, sex, employment status, educational attainment and level of income are all determinants of financial inclusion in WAEMU. The results of the relationship between self-reported barriers and individuals' characteristics show that, educational level and income are the main factors that affect the livelihood of reporting a barrier to financial inclusion in WAEMU.

Islamic microfinance in Mauritania: an investigation into involuntary factors affecting usage

“…Thus, the lenient rules of documentation make the use of financial products much more manageable and frequent. This result is in line with the finding of numerous studies in the field such as Tomgouani (2017), Beck et al (2006), Shankar (2013), Razak et al (2017), Shihadeh (2018) and Kostov et al (2012).…”

“…This result disconfirms the hypothesis ( H3 ), and therefore, the hypothesis is not supported. This outcome is contrasting the results of some studies such as (Tomgouani, 2017; Demirgüç-Kunt et al , 2008; Ulwodi and Muriu, 2017; Razak et al , 2017; Kostov et al , 2012) who found that the distance from the house and the financial institution is the main factor that embeds the usage of financial services. This result can be interpreted as if the beneficiaries are interested in using the financial services provided; the distance does not matter.…”