Financial Policies and Financial Sector Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author(s):  
Ernest Aryeetey ◽  
Machiko Nissanke
Author(s):  
Dagim Tadesse Bekele ◽  
Adisu Abebaw Degu

Finance-growth nexus is among the main debatable issue in economics and policymaking. So, this research tried to look at the effect of financial sector development on the economic growth of 25 sub-Saharan Africa countries by using panel data for time 2010-2017. Precisely, three dynamic panel data models which look the effect of financial sector depth, access and efficiency on economic growth were estimated by two-step system GMM estimation. In this research, credit extended to the private sector per GDP, commercial bank branch per 100,000 adult population, and Return to assets were used as a proxy for financial sector depth, access, and efficiency, respectively. Accordingly, the results revealed financial sector depth, access, and efficiency have a positive and statistically significant effect on the economic growth of these countries.  It is therefore recommended for the concerned bodies that broadening the depth of financial institutions by giving more credit for the private sector is essential. Besides, the financial institutions will have to be expanded to increase their accessibility to the mass and have to take some measures which promote their efficiency. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-463
Author(s):  
Ebenezer Bugri Anarfo ◽  
Joshua Yindenaba Abor ◽  
Kofi Achampong Osei ◽  
Agyapomaa Gyeke-Dako

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic link between financial inclusion and financial sector development (FSD) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach This paper employs a panel vector autoregressive framework to examine the dynamic link between financial inclusion and FSD in Sub-Saharan Africa. Findings The findings indicate that there is a reverse causality between FSD and financial inclusion in both the Sub-Saharan Africa countries sample and the full sample. It is evident that financial inclusion is a driver of FSD and vice versa. Practical implications The practical implication of this study is that financial inclusion should not only be pursued as a policy objective but it could also be an outcome variable of FSD and vice versa. This implies that African economies and governments in their effort to enhance financial inclusion, FSD can serve as a policy tool. This means that policies aimed at promoting financial inclusion will not impede FSD because the two are complementary. This suggests that we can achieve financial inclusion without sacrificing FSD and vice versa. Originality/value This paper provides first empirical evidence of the link between financial inclusion and FSD from the Sub-Saharan Africa perspective using data sourced from World Development Indicators spanning from 1990 to 2014 for 48 Sub-Saharan African economies and 217 economies in the world for the full sample.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 809-829
Author(s):  
Ebenezer Bugri Anarfo ◽  
Godfred Amewu ◽  
Gloria Clarissa Dzeha

PurposeThis study examines the causal and dynamic link between financial inclusion and migrant remittances in sub-Saharan Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a panel vector autoregressive (VAR) framework to examine the dynamic relationship between financial inclusion and migrant remittances in sub-Saharan Africa.FindingsThe findings indicate that there is a reverse causality between financial inclusion and migrant remittances in sub-Saharan Africa.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of these findings are that central governments and economic policymakers in sub-Saharan African countries should formulate and implement policies aimed at fostering financial inclusion if they are to attract more migrant remittances to promote economic growth and financial sector development. This suggests that these two variables are complementary and not contradictory. The results also suggest that central banks and other financial institutions can leverage the positive effect of financial inclusion of financial sector development to enhance the development of the financial sector instead of pursuing financial sector development as a policy objective. This means policies aimed at promoting financial inclusion will not impede or sacrifice migrant remittances, economic growth and financial sector development.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to construct a financial inclusion index to examine the link between financial inclusion and migrant remittances from the sub-Saharan Africa perspectivePeer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2019-0612/


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-33
Author(s):  
Ibrahim D. Raheem ◽  
Mutiu Abimbola Oyinlola

Purpose The study seeks to examine the role of financial development (FD) in the Feldstein–Horioka (FH) puzzle. The novelty of this study is based on the fact that the measures of FD are expanded to account for the qualitative nature of the financial sector (“better finance”). Design/methodology/approach The study used annual dataset for 37 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 1999 through 2010 and relied on the system generalised method of moments (GMM) technique, which takes accounts of endogeneity-related issues. Findings The estimated FH coefficients ranged between 0.419 and 0.720. The qualitative measures of FD have higher FH coefficient relative to the traditional or quantitative measure of FD (“more finance”). Hence, improvement in both the quantity and quality of the financial sector might be helpful in the mobilization, distribution and utilization of savings for investment purposes within these economies. The high FH coefficients obtained suggest that the FH puzzle does not hold in the SSA region. Practical implications Policymakers should formulate and design policies that would seek to ensure the development of the financial sector both in terms of quantity and quality. While taking this into consideration, special attention should be devoted to the qualitative measure of finance. Originality/value The study extends the work of Adeniyi and Egwaikhide (2013) by providing different and, possibly better proxies for FD to capture the efficiency and the qualitative nature of the financial system. This crux of the study serves as the value addition to the literature, as no other study the authors are aware of, has considered the importance of “better finance” indicators in the saving – investment nexus investigation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document