Financial Inclusion, Human Capital Development and Economic Growth in Africa: An Examination of the Transmission Channel

Abstract

This study set out to investigate the role played by human capital development in the nexus between financial inclusion and economic growth in Africa. We use GMM as the estimation technique to analyze country-level data pooled from 40 African countries from 2005 to 2018. The findings suggest the presence of a non-linear U-shaped relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth. It was also found that human capital development fully mediates the relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth in Africa. Hence, the growth-enhancing benefits of financial inclusion are transmitted through human development. Whilst pursuing their financial inclusion targets, efforts should be made by governments across the African continent to simultaneously improve the level of human capital development to realize the positive benefits of financial inclusion.