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Business Reporter —
INFORMATION communication technology has the capacity to reduce financial exclusion in Africa, which has been perpetuated by factors that include high costs of financial services and inaccessibility of service points, new studies have shown. 

An Annual Research and Policy Seminar themed “FinancingDevelopment” held yesterday heard experiences based on researches conducted in selected African countries such as Lesotho and Uganda, among others, which indicated that an increase in financial inclusion is being slowed down by such factors as lack of trust, culture and inability to meet eligibility criteria.

Presenting a research paper on the Financial Inclusion conundrum in Lesotho: Is mobile money the missing piece? – Lira Sekantsi said other factors affecting financial inclusion include inappropriate product designs, lack of documentation and complex procedures in accessing services.

“Mobile money increases financial inclusion in the long run,” said Mr Sekantsi.

Mobile payments – also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer, and mobile wallet – generally refer to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device. Mr Sekantsi was delivering the paper which he co-authored with Sephooko Motelle.

The Annual Research and Policy Seminar, organised by the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa, aims at fostering dialogue and exchange of knowledge contributing to the search for solutions, through policy recommendations, to emerging challenges confronting the region.

Also, to reduce financial exclusion, Governments should implement policies which target legal and regulatory frameworks to make them effective and efficient; policies which encourage innovation and technological advances and which champion financial inclusion.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe deputy governor Dr Charity Dhliwayo, who was guest of honour, said sustainable improvement of the growth momentum, will depend on viable and innovative development strategies and the interaction of these with global economic conditions.

In March this year, the RBZ launched a five-year National Financial Inclusion Strategy which seeks to increase the overall level of access to affordable and appropriate formal financial services. The strategy targets increasing financial inclusion to at least 90 percent by 2020 from 69 percent in 2014.

Addressing the seminar MEFMI executive director Dr Caleb Fundanga said the Annual Research and Policy Seminars will culminate in the publication of accepted papers in a peer reviewed journal, the MEFMI Research Journal.