Determinants of financial inclusion: a macroeconomic approach in the West African Economic and Monetary Union

The aim of this paper is to identify the main macroeconomic determinants of financial inclusion in WAEMU over the period 2007-2020. Our results from GLS and RE reveal that income per capita; education, mobile phone access, political stability and gross fixed capital formation positively and significantly affect financial inclusion in WAEMU. However, these results show that final household consumption expenditure and the share of the population living in rural areas have a negative and significant impact on financial inclusion in WAEMU. This suggests the need to strengthen financial education and political stability in WAEMU countries, as well as investment in adequate infrastructure in rural areas, likely to attract investors from the financial system.