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The digital divide within the financial sector, closely intertwined with the rapid evolution of financial technologies, commonly known as "FinTech," has fundamentally reshaped the landscape of financial services. These innovations have ushered in novel avenues for accessibility, enhancing the security of financial transactions and transcending traditional spatiotemporal constraints. This paper embarks on a journey to address key inquiries within the MENA region. It explores digital financial inclusion levels across MENA countries, identifies segments facing digital financial exclusion, scrutinizes the role of the digital divide, often compounded by a lack of financial literacy, as a barrier to financial inclusion, and investigates how FinTech can serve as a catalyst for inclusive development, with a specific focus on marginalized groups like women and the elderly. Our research employs a comprehensive mixed-methodological approach. We draw from micro-level data sourced from 9053 individuals, extracted from the World Bank's latest Global Findex 2021 database. Our comparative analysis, rooted in a two-step principal component analysis method to create the MENA Digital Financial Inclusion Index (DFII), shedding light on the current state of digital financial inclusion in the MENA region. Despite recent initiatives, our findings underscore that digital financial inclusion in the region remains relatively low. Furthermore, our estimations, based on the Heckman selection methodology, emphasize the pivotal role played by factors such as educational attainment, labor force participation, information and communication technologies, and internet access as primary drivers of digital financial inclusion in the MENA region. Our research contributes a substantial body of empirical evidence regarding digital financial inclusion levels across MENA countries, charting a path toward bridging the digital divide within the financial sector. These strategies encompass enhancing digital financial literacy, catalyzing broader participation in the labor market, and facilitating expanded access to mobile phones and the Internet. In light of our comprehensive dataset, the policy implications drawn from our study are of paramount interest to financial sector regulators in the MENA region, grounded in the real-life experiences of the individuals constituting our database, with the overarching goal of elevating digital financial inclusion in the region to new heights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to unveil the evolving landscape of digital financial inclusion in African countries during the post‐COVID‐19 era. We examined factors influencing the access and usage of digital financial services and identified population segments facing increased exclusion due to the digital divide. First, by applying principal component analysis to data collected at the country level from 39 African countries in 2014, 2017, and 2022, we developed a digital financial inclusion index. Second, the empirical research utilized a microlevel dataset of 29,042 adults from 29 countries, sourced from the World Bank's Global Findex 2021 database, employing the instrumental variable probit methodology. Comparative analysis showed improvements in digital financial inclusion rankings for Kenya, Lesotho, and Botswana, while Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, and Niger experienced declines, indicating limited access. Our empirical findings suggest that certain groups, such as women and individuals with limited education and lower incomes, encounter obstacles in accessing digital financial services. Factors such as education level, labor market participation and access to technology and internet infrastructure emerged as crucial in promoting digital financial inclusion. Our sample's representative nature enhances the study's practical implications, guiding public policies and international institutions to accelerate digital financial inclusion in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, provide a comparative analysis of interregional and intraregional inequalities in terms of financial inclusion across Moroccan regions; second, explore the determinants of regional financial inclusion in a panel of 12 Moroccan regions. We used the principal component analysis methodology to construct our regional financial inclusion indexes, and the panel data estimation methodology to identify the determinants of regional financial inclusion. Our regional financial inclusion index shows that the majority of regions have a low level of financial inclusion. This is symptomatic of a very asymmetric distribution. For all regions, we found that intraregional inequalities in access to bank branches by locality/province or prefecture increase as we move away from the region’s main city. Empirical results indicated that a region’s human development level, as proxied by the Human Development Index (HDI), the size of its population, and the industrialization level of its economic fabric are the main determinants of a region’s financial inclusion level. The Moroccan financial system authorities have implemented several reforms (the banking law no. 2-91-967 of July 21, 1993) and strategies (National Financial Inclusion Strategy) aimed at promoting financial inclusion in Morocco; however, the increase in the level of financial inclusion at the macrolevel has not benefited all segments of the Moroccan population. This paper is original as, to our knowledge, it is the first to mobilize interregional and intraregional data, as opposed to previous studies that are national-level oriented. Given the mapping of interregional and intraregional inequalities in access to, and use of, formal financial services, policymakers can rely on our index to formulate useful financial inclusion policies and to target rural localities, provinces or prefectures, and priority regions in Morocco’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy. The financial system should provide financial services tailored to regional financing needs. Moroccan policymakers should focus on filling gaps in levels of regional human development, as the latter is a key factor in regional financial inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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