Digital Financial Inclusion and Trade Openness in Africa

Abstract

The objective of this study was to test the impact of digital financial inclusion on trade openness using a panel of 16 African countries observed over a 17-year period from 2002 to 2018. T > N, this study favors a methodology based on static panel estimates using the generalized least squares (GLS) method. The results obtained revealed that only one variable (logGDP) out of the five retained has a statistically significant influence on trade openness at the 1% level (p > t = 0.06) with a coefficient opposite to the predicted sign of (﹣0.2371655). This coefficient shows that the decrease in national production in these countries by 0.23% leads to a decrease in the level of trade by 1%. In relation to the variable of interest (ATMs), it was found that it negatively and significantly influences trade openness at the 1% level. When the level of trade decreases by 0.6%, it means that the use of digital finance has decreased by 1%. Also, the study finds an R2 within of meaning 0.0527 that at 5.27% the fluctuations in trade in these economies are explained by the model variables.