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Financial inclusion is seen as an enabler to growth in an economy, especially in developing regions like Africa. Despite the importance of financial inclusion, many factors play a role in one's decision to get involved in the financial sector. This paper therefore examined the determinants of financial inclusion in Africa, considering both demand and supply as well as infrastructure side factors using General Method of Moments (GMM) and the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) methods with data that spanned from 2004 to 2020. The study is a panel type that employed secondary data, that is sourced from the World Development Indicators, compiled by the World Bank. Twenty countries were purposively selected for the study based on data availability. The study revealed that GNI per capita, domestic credit to private sector and institution quality are significant determinants of financial inclusion in Africa. It was further revealed that GNI per capita, money supply and institutional quality contribute to the minimization of barriers to financial inclusion in the continent. This work is unique in the sense that it revealed the determinants of financial inclusion, using demand, supply and infrastructural factors in a single model, which is different from previous studies that examined the determinants using either demand only or supply only or both but not including infrastructural factors. Governments in the selected countries as well as development partners should therefore institute policies that would improve on financial inclusion, through the strengthening of institution, as well as take pragmatic measures to minimize barriers to financial inclusion in Africa.

This study explores the interdependence of exchange rates between the West African Monetary Zone and the West African Economic and Monetary Union countries using monthly data from 2000 to 2021. Employing wavelet multiple correlation and wavelet multiple cross-correlation by Fernando-Macho, we generally uncovered low degrees of integration between the two blocs at higher frequencies, but the level of integration gradually becomes stronger as it navigates from higher a frequency (lower scale) to a lower frequency (higher scale). This implies that ex-ante convergence of exchange rates is difficult; however, in the long time horizon, exchange rate convergence is possible. Evidence from cross-correlation analysis shows that lead (lag) effects is time-varying and heterogeneous, showing no particular country’s exchange rates as leaders or followers. Different currencies have the potential to lead or lag on varying scales. These results suggest that member states establish a regional surveillance mechanism that can monitor macroeconomic indicators in the region. The effective implementation of this mechanism can aid in identifying macroeconomic imbalances and potential risks to macroeconomic stability and convergence.Exchange rate comovement is important for guaranteeing the introduction of a single currency. This is not different from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The region seeks to accomplish this by developing robust and sound policies that ensure the synchronization of exchange rates. This study examines the comovements of exchange rates between WAMZ and the WAEMU countries. The results show that the ex-ante convergence of exchange rates is difficult for the region; however, in the long time horizon, exchange rate convergence is possible. Evidence from cross-correlation analysis shows that lead (lag) effects is time-varying and heterogeneous, showing no particular country’s exchange rate as leader or follower. The study recommends that the heads of states of ECOWAS consider the introduction of the ‘eco’ ex-post because exchange rates can converge in the long run.

This study aims to establish whether the effect of stock market development on the growth of economies in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is conditioned by institutional quality threshold. To this end, we used the Hansen threshold estimation approach to assess any discontinuities in this relationship. Data are sourced from the World Development Indicators of the World Bank and cover the period from 2000-2020. We significantly contribute to the literature by examining the nonlinearities in the stock market development-growth nexus when institutional quality is the mediating variable. We established that, as long as institutional quality is below the threshold level, it serves as an impediment for financial markets to drive growth in the West African sub-region. A key implication is that the relationship between stock market development and economic growth in the West African sub-region is contemporaneous, and that the development of the stock market is relevant in the developmental agenda in the sub-region. Therefore, we recommend that at the policy level, countries in West Africa should design strategies that can improve their institutional structures in the areas of allocation of credit, increasing competition, and the implementation of proper regulations that will make it possible for financial markets to stimulate economic growth, as these seem to be important condition to drive growth in the long run. Improving the financial sector is important to guarantee the sustainability of economic growth. This is not different from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Regional blocs seek to accomplish this by developing robust and sound stock markets within a solid and healthy institutional framework. This study examines the effect of stock market developments under a strong institutional framework on the economic output of the ECOWAS region. The results show that a robust stock markets and ensuring more credit to the private sector can only improve the gross domestic product of ECOWAS member countries when there is a good institutional quality structure in place. This is crucial for ECOWAS member countries experiencing low manufacturing sector output. Robust institutional quality structures and enhanced credit to the private sector must be continually pursued by the ECOWAS to engender the growth of member economies.

This study assessed whether the relationship between stock market development and economic growth in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is conditioned by institutional quality. Empirical estimations to substantiate the mediating role of disaggregated institutional quality variables in the stock market development and economic growth relationships are performed using the Hansen threshold regression method and the study period is from 2000 to 2020. The findings revealed that good institutional structures help stock market development to have a greater positive influence on growth in the region. When institutional quality are disaggregated into its various constituents, the study results suggest that when government effectiveness is the threshold variable, stock market development has a positive and significant relationship with growth below the threshold, whereas higher regulatory control has a negative effect on how stock market development influences growth. This finding suggests that excessive government interference hinders the stock markets to have greater influence on growth. Further, the study results suggest that when rule of law, and political stability are above the estimated threshold, stock market development has a positive effect on growth whereas control of corruption, and voice and accountability negatively affect how stock market development influences growth when it is below the estimated threshold level. The findings of the study suggest that policies towards improving corruption control, voice and accountability, rule of law, and an optimum level of regulatory control, such as promoting democratic principles, instituting punitive measures to clamp down corruption, pragmatic measures to entrench rule of law can help stock market development to have a greater positive influence on growth in the ECOWAS region. ECOWAS member states are therefore encouraged to ensure various institutions are adequately resourced to enable the region to achieve the growth-enhancing effect of stock market development. Enhancing the stock market is crucial for economic development. This assertion by the academic community in relation to the stock market development-growth nexus is applicable to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The ECOWAS region has nurtured the idea of developing sound financial markets to help realize the introduction of a single currency in the region. The region can achieve this if there is a robust institutional structure. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between stock market development and economic growth when institutional quality is the mediating variable. The results show that when government effectiveness is the threshold variable, stock market development has a positive and significant relationship with growth below that threshold, whereas higher regulatory control has a negative effect on how stock market development influences growth. This finding indicates that excessive government interference inhibits stock market development to have a substantial positive influence on growth. This corroborates McKinnon's ( 1973 ) financial repression and financial liberalization theory. The ECOWAS region should pursue improved institutional quality structures to enable stock markets to have a full impact on economies.

A recently developed wavelet multiple correlations and cross correlations based on the maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform by Fernández-Macho is employed to analyse the interdependence of macroeconomic fundamentals among countries within the West African Monetary Zone for data from January 2000 to December 2018. We establish that the nature of interdependence among exchange rates, inflation, and interest rates vary across the countries. We document that the overall correlations of the three macroeconomic variables are weak in the short term, medium term, and long term. There is evidence of weaker integration at all frequencies for exchange rates, inflation, and interest rates.However, Ghana has the maximum wavelet multiple correlations at these times. The overall correlation of macroeconomic variables shows inconsistencies and may be accounted for by varying factors which often exert influence on market linkages over time. It is clear from the empirical evidence that the ex-ante conditionality for the introduction of the single currency in West African Monetary Zone will be difficult to achieve.

This study explores the role of financial technology (FinTech) in promoting financial inclusion across 28 emerging and developing economies (EMDEs) from 2011 to 2021. While financial inclusion has been widely studied, limited research focuses on the concurrent impact of FinTech on financial access in multiple EMDEs. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a new financial inclusion index was constructed, incorporating two dimensions: access and usage. A System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model was applied to examine the relationship between FinTech and financial inclusion, while the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique was used to assess factors influencing barriers to inclusion. The results reveal that a 1% increase in FinTech leads to a 0.1772 unit rise in the financial inclusion index. Additionally, education, GNI per capita, and broad money to GDP were found to affect barriers to financial inclusion. This study underscores the importance of FinTech in achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and G20 principles for digital financial inclusion, recommending investment in digital infrastructure and stronger regulatory frameworks for FinTech development.

This paper examines the role of national culture in the transmission process through which the growth in credit to the private sector can lead to bank stability in 107 countries over 2005 and 2017. We performed the examination using the quantile regression and the dynamic generalised method of moment to explore asymmetry properties in the panel dataset and address endogeneity challenges that can affect the efficiency of the results. We found that national culture dimensions influence the impact of financial innovation on bank stability. On the specific effect of national culture, we found that higher levels of indulgence and long-term orientation serve as a substitute for financial innovation in promoting bank stability. Higher levels of individuality and masculinity have no effects on the impact of financial innovation on bank stability. Higher power distance and uncertainty avoidance complement the relationship between financial innovation and bank stability. Finally, countries with lower levels of indulgence and long-term orientation can increase access to bank credit to boost banking system stability. The implication is that regulators should consider the cultural orientation of their communities in promoting sound financial intermediation.

This paper investigated the threshold effect of financial inclusion on poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using an annual dataset spanning 2010 to 2017, the Hansen's estimation and Differenced generalized method of moments (GMM) methods were used to estimate the threshold level of financial inclusion that will reduce poverty and factors that influence financial inclusion respectively. The results showed that beyond a threshold level of 0.365, financial inclusion would lead to poverty reduction with money supply being positively significant towards poverty reduction in SSA. The results further indicated that domestic credit to the private sector positively affects financial inclusion. Development partners and governments in the sub-region should therefore implement policies that are aimed at providing an enabling environment for financial institutions to provide financial services that are readily available and affordable to the public in order to benefit from the desired poverty reduction effect of financial inclusion.

This paper explores the symmetric and asymmetric dependency structure of decomposed return series of Gold and eight cryptocurrencies to establish the hedging and diversification potentials of these asset classes. Daily data spanning 30 April 2013 to 18 April 2019 are employed within the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and Quantile-in-Quantile regression techniques. Our empirical results provide evidence that cryptocurrencies and Gold can both hedge and diversify for each other at different conditional distributions of their returns. We also find that cryptocurrencies are not purely speculative but can be driven by medium- and long-term fundamentals. In addition, both Gold and cryptocurrencies can be hedge and diversifiers for other traditional asset classes such as crude oil, fiat currencies, and other commodities.

The COVID-19 pandemic that broke out in late 2019 ushered in a rare era of global uncertainty that tested the resilience of financial and economic systems. Countries tried to implement stringent public health regulations to stop the virus's rapid spread, frequently at the expense of economic activity. We contribute to the existing body of knowledge by providing a detailed analysis of the distinct effects of government initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic on stock market returns. We examine monthly data from February 2020 to December 2022 using the Autoregressive Distributive Lag model, focusing on both short- and long-run patterns and trends. The findings show that the COVID-19 stringency index has a short-term positive effect on stock market returns and a negative effect in the long-run. Furthermore, the findings show negative correlations between stock market returns and global economic policy uncertainty in the long run and a negative effect in the short-run. The study recommends that investors consider spreading their investments to take advantage of short-term gains during pandemic-related restrictions; listed firms should adapt their business strategies to navigate uncertainties during challenging times and finally, policymakers should enhance communication and transparency in policy decisions to build and maintain investor confidence.