Assessing the impact of mobile money services on financial inclusion in Uganda

Abstract

Financial access facilitates day-to-day living, and helps families and businesses plan for everything from long-term goals to unexpected emergencies. Financial inclusion has been identified as an enabler for 7 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The World Bank Group considers financial inclusion a key enabler to reduce extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. Countries that have achieved the most progress toward financial inclusion have allowed mobile financial services to thrive. And indeed many attribute the increase in financial sector deepening to growth in usage of mobile financial services. This study assesses the impact mobile money services have had on financial inclusion in Uganda. Specific focus was on the factors affecting financial inclusion, the extent of uptake in mobile money services and the relationship between mobile money services and financial deepening in Uganda. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods in data collection and analysis relying on similar research studies carried out in this field both in Uganda, in the region and globally. The study found that locality, gender and level of income are some of the major factors that drive financial inclusion in Uganda. Given the significant uptake in the use of mobile money services and the visible positive impact that mobile money has on financial inclusion; the implications therefore for the government are to leverage on the mobile money sector to further the financial inclusion agenda in Uganda through interventions like stronger regulation, subsiding the sector and drafting policies to encourage collaboration between other service providers and mobile money services among others.