Factors influencing Sudanese microfinance intention to adopt mobile banking

Anwar Ammar,Elsadig Musa Ahmed,David Mcmillan

doi:10.1080/23311975.2016.1154257

Anwar Ammar, Elsadig Musa Ahmed + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2016.1154257

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Abstract

AbstractAccess to financial service has become a key phenomenon for economic development and poverty alleviation .Microfinance is one way of fighting poverty in Sudan, where most citizens are in need of it. However, despite the initial results showing a positive impact of microfinance on the livelihood of low-income people in Sudan, around 8 million of the Sudanese poor people are excluded from microfinance services. One potential remedy for the limited outreach of microfinance in Sudan may lie within enhancing the capacity of microfinance services providers (MFPs) in the utilization of modern technology. Recent innovation in providing financial services in a convenient and efficient way is the use of mobile banking (m-banking) technology in microfinance. M-banking promises to increase the efficiency and outreach of microfinance services in developing countries. This paper tries to examine the factors that influence the adoption of m-banking by microfinance sector in Sudan. In this respect, hypotheses wer...

Highlights

According to the National Baseline Household Survey (2009), the poverty rate in Sudan is 46.5% nationwide and varies considerably between rural and urban areas (57.6 vs. 26.5%, respectively) (Sudan 2015 African Economic Outlook, 2015)
Conclusion and policy implications A significant contribution of this study is that this study extends UTAUT model with the inclusion of six additional variables, namely Previous Experience, Banking Needs, Perceived Self-efficacy, Awareness, Perceived credibility, and Perceived financial cost factors to study MF customers intention to use m-banking
The second significant contribution is that TOE framework developed by (Tornatzky & Fleischer, 1990) was extended by adding variables related to the adoption of mbanking within the organization and environment contexts in Sudan such as Business Model, Market and Products, and Partners Collaboration

Summary

Introduction

According to the National Baseline Household Survey (2009), the poverty rate in Sudan is 46.5% nationwide and varies considerably between rural and urban areas (57.6 vs. 26.5%, respectively) (Sudan 2015 African Economic Outlook, 2015). Unemployment is high in Sudan, according to The African Development Bank (2014) the unemployment rate stood at 10.8% in 2012, with male unemployment at 13% compared to 20% for females. Sudan is one of the countries which adopted microfinance as a tool to address issues of poverty and unemployment. The Sudanese experience showed that microfinance has a positive impact on income-generating activities, poverty reduction, women’s empowerment, and better access to education and health services. Mobile technology was successfully used in many countries of similar situation to Sudan (e.g. MPESA in Kenya and WIZIT in South Africa) for delivering financial services to the poor. While microfinance in Sudan is still in fledgling stage (8% coverage), mobile phone estimated penetration rate in 2015 is 77% (BuddeComm, 2015). Many studies suggest m-banking as a solution to microfinance problems (Impact Evaluation Assessment MFI Sector in Sudan 2007–2012, 2013; Mapping, capacity assessment & capacity development of microfinance providers in Sudan, 2012; Situational Analysis of the Microfinance Sector in Sudan, 2006)

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