The research question asks: “Is the policy for financial inclusion in Rwanda explicit, appropriate and effective?” The Government of Rwanda targets ‘financial inclusion’ for 80% of the population of Rwanda by 2017. The study considers what financial inclusion means, how policy has captured it, and whether policy implementation reaches the grassroots – and with what effect. Chapter 1 introduces the research study. Chapter 2 gives background to Rwanda’s development, the strategic policy cycle and planning processes, the accessibility of policy detail, and the aspiration for economic transformation to be a ‘middle income’ country by 2020. Professionalising public service, and the role of Rwanda’s leadership are considered, as are Rwanda’s demographic challenges. Chapter 3 reviews literature relevant to Rwanda’s development and to financial inclusion in development. It explores the ‘livelihoods’ analytic framework. Chapter 4 outlines methods and methodological approaches to this study. A ‘grounded theory’ approach is used and a mixed methods approach is applied to the data. The four data chapters (Chapters 5, 6 7, and 8) draw on voices of people involved in financial inclusion policy. In Chapter 5, villagers speak, via a household survey, about good things in their lives, challenges they face, and their actual livelihood activities. They explain their engagement with financial services, and discuss the role of asset ownership. In Chapter 6 senior policy makers speak of vision and pragmatism in financial inclusion policy, and their own rationale for supporting the policy. Chapter 7 focuses on voices at the mid-level of implementation: District level civil servants, cooperative managers, branch bank-managers. All describe challenges and achievements, explaining their personal route to this career position. Chapter 8 returns to grassroots, hearing voices of farmers (in groups and individually), using real lives to show impacts and limitations of the policy. Chapter 9 draws conclusions from the study: the impact of the policy for financial inclusion; the role of central and local leadership; the wider insights allowed into the nature of inclusive development; and the significance of Rwanda’s ‘Home Grown Solutions’. The study proposes a wider use of the livelihoods analytical framework as an aid to understanding transformation at diverse levels in development.

The increasing mobile penetration rates in Africa provide an interesting opportunity to mitigate financial exclusion on the continent. Through mobile phone applications that provide an electronic store of value that sits on the mobile phone, the unbanked poor can now access accounts and initiate financial transactions on their mobile phone. The mobile phone presents a more affordable and accessible channel for transacting. The aim of the research was to determine the inclination for the unbanked at the base of the pyramid in South Africa to adopt mobile banking. In total, 100 individuals were interviewed to determine their propensity to adopt mobile banking if it were made available to them. The criteria for selection were residence in an informal settlement in Gauteng, being unbanked and having access to or ownership of a mobile phone. Graphical representations of the findings were analysed to determine the proportion of the sample that would adopt mobile banking under the various constructs. It was concluded that mobile banking had a high likelihood of being adopted by individuals at the base of the pyramid on the basis of its low cost, the convenience and security it offered, and the ease of its use. Additional factors in favour of adoption included observability and trialability. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

In many developing economies, access to and subsequent utilisation of mainstream financial services act as a barrier to financial inclusion. The merging of financial services and information technology, especially by means of mobile devices, result in consumers being able to make use of financial services at any time and place, thereby overcoming the distribution challenges and subsequent use (Gu, Lee, & Suh, 2009). This research examined the factors influencing the continued use of tech-based financial services post adoption by the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) in South Africa. The research uses the risk-benefit framework to understand usage behaviour focusing on cost, convenience, perceived ease of use and risk (security and operational) as predictor variables. The research makes use of analysed secondary data on 481 low-income individuals using the Structural equation modelling (SEM).The partial least squares structural modelling was utilised to test the hypotheses and relationship between the variables. The findings indicate that perceived benefit has a greater influence on usage than perceived risk. Even though consumers consider both benefit and risk in decision making, the expectation of potential benefits is a greater driver of usage. Convenience, cost and perceived ease of use were found to have significant impacts on usage, with the latter two having the greatest impacts. Perceived risk had a significant but weak impact on usage, with operating risk influencing usage more than security risk. The research recommends that when creating a value proposition for Fintech products, resources should be weighted more towards improving and highlighting those factors that drive the perception of benefit or value added to customers (cheaper, quicker etc.) vs. those that manage a potential risk. Customers are likely to respond positively and increase usage when there is an additional benefit to be derived.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Inequality in South Africa has long been recognised as one of the most salient features of our society. Despite many efforts by the government to reduce inequality since our democratic transition in 1994, progress has been limited. The historic patterns of accumulation and economic concentration have continued to feed into South Africa’s patterns of uneven and combined development. Moreover, financial markets in many countries are undeniably incomplete, segmented, and inefficient. This is largely attributed by high transaction costs for both institutions and clients as well as biases against certain parts of the market. Therefore, people will continue to transact outside the formal financial system if they lack easy access and use of formal financial institutions. Private resources are often used in formal areas that provide better access and higher return on investment for private institutions. As a result, the development of the poorest areas remains relatively neglected.

Access to financial services from financial institutions has often proved to be one of the major constraints to rural and smallholder agricultural development in Zimbabwe. However, the ICT revolution across the world leading to the development of branchless banking options has brought new financial inclusion opportunities in the rural areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of branchless banking in smallholder agriculture through investigating the user patterns and adoption rate of mobile banking by rural farmers in Zimbabwe. Zvimba District was used as the case study while mobile banking was the branchless banking option investigated. The study also sought to investigate the barriers to adoption of mobile banking, in addition to laying out the difference between traditional banking channels and mobile banking. A survey through a structured interview with rural smallholder farmers was the main means of data collection. The data collected was then used to quantify the adoption of mobile banking, the barriers to adoption, and the alternative financial service providers used in rural areas, making it possible to draw conclusions for the purposes of policy formulation. The findings from the study revealed a high rate of adoption of mobile banking among the rural people. According to the study, even though mobile banking was cheaper and more accessible, traditional banking channels were still cited as being an important need for rural people. The significant factors investigated as creating barriers to adoption of mobile banking included age, education, income, marital status and farming experience, while factors such as gender and farm size proved to be insignificant. In light of the findings, it was recommended that besides transactional uses, branchless banking should be further developed and enhanced to provide other services such as insurance services and credit needed by smallholder farmers. Furthermore, in order to enhance customer uptake, mobile network operators (MNOs) were recommended to consider a segmentation approach when extending services to appropriate segments in rural areas. / Dissertation (MInst (Agrar))--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / MInst (Agrar) / Unrestricted

Magister Commercii - MCom / The literature on financial inclusion and poverty connections has received considerable attention recently. There exist a scarcity of local studies examining the relationship between financial inclusion (FI) and poverty. Precisely, there is a lack of local studies who previously used FinScope data to investigate the mentioned relationship in South Africa. This study is motivated to fill the gap. To achieve the aims, the study will source data from FinScope (a secondary data) for the periods of 2011 and 2016. The Foster-Greer-Thorbecke indices were used to measure the level of poverty, while the lower-bound poverty (LBPL) line was used to differentiate the poor from the non-poor. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was also applied to derive the financial inclusion index (FII). Probit regressions were run to measure the likelihood of being poor and being financially excluded. Ordinary Least Squares were run to identify the nature of the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. Lastly, bivariate regression was also run to test the relationship between poverty and financial exclusion.

Magister Commercii - MCom / People residing in rural areas generally struggle with many socio-economic problems, such as transport, health access, employment opportunities, poverty, inequality, access to essential services and facilities (e.g., piped water, electricity) as well as access to financial services. The global community has over the years came up with progressive measures directed at economic development and improvement of living standards, with one of them being financial inclusion (FI). FI is seen as one of the strategies to eradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and inequality as well as enhancing an inclusive economic growth. This study investigated financial inclusion in rural households of South Africa, using the Finscope data (2011 and 2016), with the aim of examining the extent of financial inclusion in rural households.

The purpose of this study is to examine the innovative financial inclusion for the under-served urban migrant and refugee population in Thailand, respectively. The increasing number of urban migrants and refugees in Thailand requires innovative financial inclusion and livelihood interventions. Many migrants and refugees do not have access to formal financial services due to their legal documentation, although their demands for financial services still exist and remain unsatisfied. The evidence from Kenya in Africa could provide implications and viable options for Thailand in implementing financial inclusion and livelihood programmes in different ways. Using data from the migrants and refugees residing in Bangkok, Thailand through individual interviews, the discourse and narrative qualitative analytical methods were employed to analyse data. The key findings from this study include financial needs, financial inclusion options, livelihood assets and strategies, financial literacy, as well as the livelihood approaches that can support the wellbeing of urban migrants and refugees in the host countries. The findings also revealed the difference in financial needs between urban migrants and refugees in Thailand due to their unique needs and livelihood goals. The data analysis suggested that the financial inclusion and livelihood interventions in Kenya could be applicable for refugees and migrants in Thailand. The roles of financial technology and innovation also have a positive impact in accelerating the financial inclusion of refugees and migrants. The recommendations from this study can help to create the enabling environments for financial inclusion of migrants and refugees in the urban context of Thailand. A comprehensive needs assessment on livelihoods and financial inclusion could explore the actual needs of the migrant and refugee population in in Thailand. The coaching sessions for new arrival groups of migrants and refugees can help them to adjust their livelihood strategies while residing in the host country. The innovation and technology will promote the cost-effective informal banking and open up employment and economic opportunities. The advocacy for the rights of migrants and refugees should be strengthened, including the legislations regarding basic healthcare and education. With a dramatic increase in migration, a better understanding of urban contexts will help develop workable interventions for financial inclusion of urban displaced persons, eventually building resilience and reducing poverty among migrants and refugees.

Financial inclusionär det tillstånd i vilket människor har tillgång till och använder sig av finansiella tjänster. Sedan början av 2000-talet bedrivs arbete för att främja financial inclusion världen över, bland annat genom att öka antalet personer som är anslutna till ett finansiellt institut och har tillgång till ett betalkonto. Anslutning till ett betalkonto har identifierats som en betydande komponent för att uppnå en hållbar framtid. Särskilt stor vikt läggs vid att nå ut till personer som tidigare aldrig varit anslutna.   En viktig faktor för att åstadkomma en hög anslutningsgrad till finansiella institut är att regler avseende anslutning till samt användning av institutets tjänster verkar för inkludering och inte exkluderar sårbara konsumentgrupper. I denna uppsats görs en kritisk analys av regleringen av svenska kreditinstitut för att utröna om, och i så fall på vilket sätt, den svenska regleringen av kreditinstitut främjar financial inclusion. Analysen i uppsatsen begränsas till sju fokusområden i den svenska regleringen, vilka har identifierats ha särskild betydelse för financial inclusion. Uppsatsens sju fokusområden utgörs av rätt till betalkonto, avgifter för användande av finansiella tjänster, tillgång till kontanttjänster, förutsättningar för utnyttjande av finansiella tjänster, auktoriserade finansiella aktörer, kundkännedom och riskbedömning samt verifikation av identitet.    En genomförd granskning av den svenska regleringen ger vid handen att utformningen av kreditinstitutsregleringen idag främjar financial inclusioni flera avseenden. Antagandet av betalkontodirektivet, PAD, medförde bland annat en rätt för samtliga konsumenter bosatta i EES att på ett icke-diskriminerande sätt ges tillgång till ett betalkonto med grundläggande funktioner. Denna rätt utgör en central del för arbetet att uppnå financial inclusioni Sverige, eftersom tillgången till finansiella tjänster underlättas. Skyldighet för kreditinstitut att tillhandahålla kontanttjänster, transparenskrav avseende avgifter och krav på tydlig och lättförståelig information är andra exempel på hur den svenska regleringen utformats på ett inkluderande sätt. Trots flertalet främjande faktorer, konstateras även brister i form av exkluderande lagstiftning. Genom framställningen i denna uppsats presenteras förslag på hur identifierade brister potentiellt kan åtgärdas och hur ökad financial inclusioni Sverige kan genereras.

This thesis comprises three empirical studies. The first study assesses the multidimensional concept of financial inclusion with an objective to segregate the key determinants, from a range of potential influencing factors. Using a large cross-country sample of developing countries, over a 14-year period from 2004 to 2017, findings suggest that physical access to banking services, advances in financial technology, government effectiveness and rural population are significantly associated with financial inclusion and should be the principal focus of policy initiatives. Sub-sample analysis shows considerable differences in the key determining factors of financial inclusion across six regions and three income groups. The second study empirically investigates the complex relationship between financial inclusion and financial stability for the period and sample considered in the first study, by employing Instrumental Variables Two Stage Least Squares (IV 2SLS) estimation and Difference-in-Differences (DID) methods. Results show that financial inclusion has a significant positive impact on financial stability. Also, countries that actively implement policies to promote financial inclusion experience an enhanced positive impact on stability, as compared to other countries. The third study constructs a Financial Inclusion Index (FII) for 23 Indian states over a 44-year period and then uses the composite measure to examine the impact of financial inclusion on economic growth. Unconditional Quantile Regression (UQR) estimates reveal a positive impact of inclusion on growth, with richer states in the west and the south benefitting more in terms of higher income caused by a higher level of financial inclusion than the poorer states in the north and the east, thus widening the income gap. While, liberalisation augments the financial inclusion induced income inequality, the proportion of the rural population reduces it. / Scholarship from the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences