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...

How did a health crisis translate to an economic crisis? Why did the spread of the coronavirus bring the global economy to its knees? The answer lies in two methods by which coronavirus stifled economic activities. First, the spread of the virus encouraged social distancing which led to the...

Climate change is emerging as an important issue, and has been a cause for increasing uncertainty in the business sector. It is important to understand the effects of climate change events on financial institutions and the financial system. This study analyzes the effect of climate change on...

This article examines various conditions for optimality in financial inclusion. The optimal level of financial inclusion is achieved when basic financial services are provided to members of the population at a price that is affordable and that price is also economically sufficient to encourage...