Leaving No One Behind: Examining the effect of financial, gender, and digital inclusion on sustainable development
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Date
2024-10-14
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
This paper analyzes the effects of different dimensions of inclusion toward the
attainment of sustainable development in 33 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries
from the financial, gender, and technological perspectives between 2004 and 2021.
This study employs the System Generalized Method of Moments given its ability to
address potential endogeneity issues, capture the dynamic nature of relationships,
and mitigate potential biases while adopting the Driscoll–Kraay standard errors for
robustness check. Findings reveal two of the three measures of financial inclusion
wield positive and significant effects on sustainable development while credit to the
private sector is found to be detrimental. Also, all three measures of gender inclusion
(female employment to population, female labor force participation rate, and the
number of women holding a seat in parliament) positively influence sustainable
development. Contrastingly, the coefficients of digital inclusion (mobile phone sub scription and internet usage) were revealed to be harmful to sustainable development
in SSA. This paper advocates for increased financial inclusion through financial liter acy, customized financial products, and gender-sensitive financial services. Pertinent
are gender policies that address gender norms in addition to the enactment, avowed
commitment, and support for affirmative action toward closing gender gaps across all
sectors and at all levels.
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Citation
Abdulkareem, H. K. K., Jimoh, S. O., Nofiu, T. T., & Akande, R. S. (2024). Leaving No One Behind: Examining the effect of financial, gender, and digital inclusion on sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.3245