AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ZAMBIA

Abstract

With the flagship success of m‐Pesa in East Africa financial services via mobile devices has become an important tool to facilitate the financial inclusion of the previously unbanked population in Zambia particularly. Attempts to provide a landscape of academic research findings at the intersection of mobile financial services, financial inclusion, and development have been rather scant. To determine the key issues and gaps in the current academic research, this study conducts a systematic review of 21 academic research papers and 4 government and non-government documents vis‐à‐vis the nexus of mobile financial services, financial inclusion, and development. The results show that the extant literature addresses three major clusters of topics: delivery, environmental factors, and the impact of mobile financial services. Still in the nascent stage of research, the topics covered in the literature indicate a bias towards institutional and individual preconditions for the implementation of mobile financial services, rather than actual supply and demand by users, and its impact on society. The choice of research method also shows limited variety and depth. This study contributes towards understanding the existing research on mobile financial services for financial inclusion in Zambia and findings will help succor the research gaps for future study.