The Mediating Impact of Regulatory Quality on Islamic Finance Products and Financial Inclusion in Nigeria (2014 – 2024) (Published)
This study examines the mediating role of regulatory quality on the relationship between Islamic finance products and financial inclusion in Nigeria from 2014Q1 to 2024Q4. The research is motivated by the persistent challenge of financial exclusion in Nigeria and the growing potential of Islamic finance to address this issue. Grounded in the Financial Intermediation Theory and the Institutional Theory, the study utilises the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to analyse the short-run and long-run dynamics between the variables. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test was initially conducted to establish the stationarity of the variables, revealing a mix of I (0) and I (1) series, which validated the use of the ARDL model. The ARDL bounds test confirmed the existence of a long-run cointegrating relationship. The empirical findings from the ARDL model indicate that Murabaha (MB) and Ijarah (IJ) have a positive and significant impact on financial inclusion in both the short and long run. Crucially, the analysis of interaction terms demonstrates that regulatory quality (RQ) positively influences financial inclusion and significantly enhances the effect of Murabaha and Ijarah. This result strongly supports the Institutional Theory, highlighting the amplifying role of a robust institutional framework. In contrast, Istisna’a (IT) was found to be statistically insignificant, suggesting its limited impact on broad financial inclusion. Based on these findings, the study recommends that policymakers and regulatory bodies in Nigeria prioritize reforms that strengthen the institutional framework for Islamic finance, as this is crucial to unlocking the full potential of products like Murabaha and Ijarah to drive financial inclusion and address the nation’s financial exclusion challenges.
Keywords: Financial Inclusion, Islamic finance products, Nigeria, regulatory quality
The Role of Digital Wallet Providers in Enhancing Financial Inclusion: An Analytical Study of the Iraqi Experience (Published)
The study aimed to demonstrate the impact of digital wallets on enhancing financial inclusion variables (number of bank accounts, payment cards, ATMs, and POS devices). Data published on the Central Bank of Iraq’s statistical website was used, along with SPSS and Excel, to demonstrate the relationship results. The results showed positive regression coefficients in all models. The study concluded that increased payments via digital wallets are associated with an increase in bank accounts, cards, points of sale, and ATMs. This is a direct indication that the spread of digital wallets is not limited to digital transformation, but rather plays an effective role in advancing financial inclusion.
Keywords: ATM, Financial Inclusion, POS, digital wallets
The Societal Impact of Data Integration on Financial Inclusion (Published)
This article examines how enterprise data systems and integration technologies enable financial inclusion by providing access to financial services for underserved populations worldwide. It explores the key enabling technologies behind financial inclusion initiatives, including API frameworks, data warehousing solutions, and edge computing infrastructure. The transformative applications of these technologies are investigated across microfinance expansion, digital banking for the unbanked, and SME financing. The article addresses critical technical challenges in implementing these systems and their corresponding solutions while carefully considering ethical dimensions, including privacy, algorithmic fairness, and cybersecurity for vulnerable users. Through detailed case studies of M-Pesa, India’s UPI, and Grameen Bank, the article illustrates successful implementations that have dramatically expanded financial access through thoughtful data integration strategies.
Keywords: API frameworks, Financial Inclusion, algorithmic fairness, data integration, digital identity
An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Agency Banking Interventions in Deepening Financial Inclusion: A Case Study of Centenary Bank Uganda (Published)
This study assesses the effectiveness of the agency banking interventions in deepening financial inclusion in Uganda. The study employed a descriptive research design and purposively collected data from 50 Bank customers and staff of Centenary Bank Ltd. in Kampala District. The data was collected using a self-administered research instrument with an overall Cronbach’s reliability coefficient of 0.775 and was analysed using frequency analysis and the p-value approach. The study findings provided evidence that the following agency banking interventions: i) Providing information and ensuring that the excluded were informed about bank products and services, ii) Improving access to formal financial services for poor individuals by introducing delegated credit products to the existing savings groups with complimentary savings accounts. iii) Providing loans to savings groups later benefit individuals within the groups. iv) Encouraging the public to have personal contact with bank agents to obtain information about the banking system. v) Dispelling the myth that banks only exist for the rich had a statistically significant effect (p < 0.05) in deepening financial inclusion in Uganda. However, the agency banking intervention of using the electronic delivery of services to enhance service delivery to people with low incomes in rural areas did not significantly deepen financial inclusion in Uganda. The challenges agency banking faces in deepening financial inclusion in Uganda include unstable networks, liquidity problems, delayed or inadequate communication in case of failed transactions, cash shortages during periods of peak demand, the minimal role of bank agents, and fraud issues on the part of bank agents. It is recommended that the visibility of the agency banking outlets should be enhanced, banks should sensitize the public about agency banking, digital skills, and financial literacy, reduce the state public administration expenditure and channel the savings into infrastructural development in the rural electrification and connectivity improvements areas to enable enhanced delivery of electronic service systems in rural areas, banks in Uganda should closely work with the telecommunications companies for more reliable and stable networks that would guarantee improved delivery of agency banking services, the telecommunications companies should carry out more aggressive marketing campaigns to improve the telephone density in the country, people with adequate financial resources should be appointed as bank agents, comprehensive training in areas of business planning and management to the prospective bank agents before they are formally appointed, monitor the activities of the bank agents on a regular basis, and more due diligence should be exercised when appointing bank agents to avoid agents with questionable backgrounds.
Keywords: Agency banking, Centenary Bank, Financial Inclusion, Uganda, bank agents, interventions
Evaluation of The Nexus Between Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth in Nigeria (1980-2020) (Published)
The focus of financial inclusion is the easy access of financial services to the populace to tackle poverty, improve living standard and address the general welfare of the people for the purpose of enhancing economic growth. This paper examines how financial inclusion relates with economic growth in Nigeria. Data was obtained from the bulletins of the Central Bank of Nigeria covering the period 1981 to 2020. Statistical analysis involves the use of descriptive statistics, Johansen Co-Integration Test, Phillips-Perron Unit Root Test, Pairwise Granger Causality and Error Correction Model. To estimate the hypotheses formulated in alignment with the set objectives., the Error Correction Model was used. Economic growth, the dependent variable, was proxied by Gross Domestic Product, while total bank deposit and total credit disbursement constitute what was used to proxy the independent variable financial inclusion. The Error Correction Model result shows that there was a positive and statistically significant relationship between total bank deposit and gross domestic product. Total credit disbursement has a negative and an insignificant relationship with gross domestic product. The result from the study validates the finance led growth hypothesis and established that finance is one of the factors that causes economic growth in Nigeria. The consequence of this findings is that policy makers should pay more attention on long run financial policies that can enhance effectiveness of the financial sector in promoting growth. In addition, the CBN should focus on reduction of interest rate of banks in other to increase financial intermediation.
Keywords: Financial Inclusion, Financial exclusion, Loan, economic growth, total bank deposit
National Identity Ownership and Financial Inclusion in Uganda (Published)
Ownership of a unique and legal identity is crucial for financial inclusion in Uganda as majority of financial service providers demand a national identity (ID) to satisfy the KYC (Know your customer) requirements. This study attempts to examine the effect of ownership of a national ID on financial inclusion in Uganda. The study utilizes the 2017 World Bank Global Findex data and finds that national ID ownership is statistically significant in predicting the likelihood of being financially included in Uganda. With 95% confidence, national ID ownership, phone ownership, education, income quintile, and employment status significantly predict the likelihood of being financially included in Uganda. The study further reveals that an individual who owns a national ID and owns a phone, has secondary school education, is in the richest 20% income quintile, and is in the workforce is more likely to be financially included compared to the same individual without a national ID although the result is not statistically significant. Generally, the study argues that Uganda can boost financial inclusion by harnessing ID ownership among the financially excluded. The study recommends that national ID ownership policies should be integrated with other policies such as human capital development, income equality, employment, and increasing phone ownership in order to achieve efficient outcomes.
Keywords: Financial Inclusion, Socio-Economic Factors, global findex database, identification for development global dataset, national identity ownership