Remittances and financial access: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the effects of remittances on access to financial services in 26 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2004–2015. We find that remittances have a significantly positive impact on financial access in Sub-Saharan Africa. This finding remains true in least squares regressions and with Arellano-Bond Dynamic Panel Estimation that accounts for the endogenous relationship between remittances and financial access and that controls for any bias arising from the lagged dependent variables, as well as using an alternative measure of financial access.