Financial Inclusion: Assessing Gender Disparity in Account Ownership in West Africa

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to assess gender disparity in account ownership in West Africa. According to the World Bank 2018 report on financial inclusion, about 1.7 billion adults worldwide (31% of adults) do not have a basic transaction account and almost half of these unbanked people are women from poor households in rural areas. This study uses secondary data from the Global Findex Database to analyze 13 West African countries who were surveyed in 2011, 2014 and 2017 out of the 16 West African Countries. T-Test (Two-Sample Assuming Unequal Variances) is used to test the null hypothesis (H_{o =}There is no significant gender disparity in account ownership in West Africa). Base on the fact that the p-value<0.05 (0.005139596) and the t Stat> t Critical two-tail (2.785070432>2.063898562) we reject the null the hypothesis. Therefore there exist gender disparity in account ownership in west Africa.

Keywords: Financial Inclusion, Gender Disparity, Account Ownership, West Africa, Global Findex Database, Grameen Model, Financial Institutions

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-2-05

Publication date: January 31^st 2020