The study investigates the influence of financial development on non-performing loans using a global sample. The findings indicate that two financial development proxies, foreign bank presence and financial intermediation, are positively associated with non-performing loans. Among the...

We examine the determinants of the use of loan loss provisions to smooth income by banks in South Africa. More specifically, we examine the influence of ownership, IFRS disclosure rules and economic fluctuation on the income smoothing behaviour of South African banks while controlling for the...

Financial institutions operating in a stable financial system seem to be willing to support the realization of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This view assumes that financial stability is crucial for sustainable development. We investigate the effect of financial stability on...

This article presents some criticisms of financial inclusion. It notes that (i) financial inclusion is an invitation to live by finance and leads to the financialisation of poverty; (ii) some of the benefits of financial inclusion disappears after a few years; (iii) financial inclusion ignores...

We review the recent academic and policy literature on bank loan loss provisioning (LLP) to identify several advances in the literature, to highlight some challenges in LLP research and suggest possible directions for future research with some concluding remarks. Among other things, we observe...

The current debate on financial inclusion pays little attention to whether financial inclusion is pro-cyclical with the fluctuating business cycle. This article investigates the relationship between financial inclusion and the business cycle. The findings reveal that the level of savings and the...

This article offers a number of policy solutions to improve financial inclusion during the COVID-19 crisis. COVID-19 is a global health crisis to which some of the usual global solutions like greater financial inclusion can help. Financial inclusion remains a powerful development tool to improve...

This article critically assess digital finance as a pro-poor intervention in the development finance space. It examines the turn from ‘microfinance for the poor' to ‘digital finance for the poor'. It then considers three key issues and contest the argument that digital finance is pro-poor....

This study analyses the COVID-19 situation in Africa and discuss the socioeconomic impact, policy response and opportunities. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic which has affected the global economy has also affected the African economy through spillovers to African countries. Many African...

This paper analyses the COVID-19 situation in Nigeria, its effect on the economy and the structural causes that worsen the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. The findings reveal that the economic downturn in Nigeria was triggered by a combination of declining oil price and spillovers from the...