Mobile money services adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa : Does rural residency matter?

This study aims to measure the impact of rural residency on the adoption of mobile money services in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study is based on survey data conducted in 7 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) between 2017 and 2018. The sample size used for the model estimation is constituted of 2724 individuals. A cluster-specific fixed effect model (CSFE) which is a modified version of logistic regression is used to test the relationship between our dependent and independent variables. The results from the study show consistently that residing in a rural area reduces the probability to adopt mobile money services and individuals residing in the urban area are more likely to adopt mobile money services. Given the fact that 59.8% of sub-Saharan African inhabitants live in rural areas, with the majority lacking access to financial services, the rural area is a big market and policymakers should direct more efforts in promoting mobile money services use in rural areas. Mobile money and financial services providers should invest in extending access to mobile money services in rural areas. This study is the first of its kind to include a sample of the head of households selected in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa on a study on mobile money adoption. This brings out new insights on the impact of rural residency on mobile money services adoption that have not been explored by previous studies