Current Issue : October-December Volume : 2025 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Globally, financial inclusion is regarded as being crucial for balancing an economy’s financial system. However, despite the significance of financial inclusion, it still needs to be clarified to identify what factors are responsible for the diverse trend of financial inclusion in the forty-five Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 1999 to 2024. The main rationale of the study empirically investigated these determinants of financial inclusion in forty-five Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 1999 to 2024, which covers three distinct periods: which is the pre-COVID, 2020–2022 is the COVID period, and the post-COVID period from 2023 onward, but examined as a whole from 1999 to 2024 for easy policy formulation for SSA countries. The study was anchored on two main research objectives: firstly, to examine the factors influencing financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in these three distinct periods, and lastly, to present the policy implications of the result of these factors in enhancing financial inclusion in the post-COVID era in SSA. The study used the Panel Least Squares (PLS) technique in the data analysis. The result revealed that economic growth (GRO), Islamic banking (ISMAIC), money supply (MSS), internet users (USERS), and credit availability (CREDIT) positively and significantly enhance financial inclusion with coefficients of 0.001298, 4.926809, 1.08 × 10−6, 0.459388, and 0.657431, respectively, with significant p-values of 0.0008, 0.0023, 0.0000, 0.0000, and 0.000, respectively. On the flip side, internet servers (SERVER) have a negative coefficient value of 4.63 × 10−6 with a p-value of 0.000. Though inflation (INFL) and interest rate (INT.) have negative coefficient values of −0.02853 and −0.08317, they have insignificant p-value impacts of 0.2841 and 0.2501, respectively. The result indicates that many of the variables have a significant impact on financial inclusion. This is shown from the probabilities of the t statistics of each of the independent variables in the estimated model, which are significant at the 5% level. The policy implications of these results include the following: firstly, SSA governments should promote economic growth through investment in productive sectors, infrastructure development, and job creation programs to indirectly improve financial inclusion. Secondly, SSA countries’ policymakers should maintain price stability through sound monetary and fiscal policies to ensure inflation does not hinder access to financial services. Thirdly, SSA countries’ governments and central banks should promote lower interest rates and enhance credit accessibility, especially for marginalized groups, through subsidized loans and targeted credit schemes. Fourthly, policymakers should support the expansion of Islamic finance by improving regulatory frameworks and increasing awareness about Sharia-compliant financial products....
The study documents the achievements of the Islamic Banking Services Industry (IBSI) in light of Islamic finance objectives (including commercial performance, financial stability, and wealth distribution). A balance sheet analysis of IBSI in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for 33 quarters (2013 Q4–2021 Q3) is conducted, focusing on sources and uses of funds, as well as documentation of commercial performance. The findings suggest that the UAE IBSI has remained successful in achieving its micro/primary objectives (commercial performance) and made progress towards partial achievement of its macro/intermediate objectives (financial stability and equitable wealth distribution). While evidence suggests achievements in the area of financial stability, the aspect of equity in wealth distribution requires more focus. The study recommends that regulators develop a legal framework focusing on the business models for IBSI, aimed at achieving broader economic objectives. It is also recommended that managers of UAE IBSI include profit and loss‑sharing contracts in deposit collection, financing and investment portfolios. The contribution to the literature includes the documentation of findings on the achievements of UAE IBSI in financial performance, as well as its broader economic objectives within the Islamic financial system....
Although previous studies have explored the link between digitalisation and bank performance, the impact of these digital tools on deposit money banks in Nigeria remains debatable, especially regarding the components of digital accounting practices. This study examined the effect of digital accounting practices on the financial performance of deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the impacts of data analytics, automated bookkeeping, machine learning, cloud-based accounting systems, and blockchain technology on Nigeria's return on assets of DMBs. A survey design was employed. A stratified sampling method was adopted to select seven deposit money banks with international authorization. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample size of 396 employees, which was determined using the Taro Yamane formula. The data were analysed using both descriptive and linear regression methods using SPSS. The results of the analysis showed that data analytics, automated bookkeeping, machine learning, cloud-based accounting systems, and blockchain technology have a positive and statistically significant influence on financial performance (ROA). The study concluded that digital accounting practices significantly influenced the economic performance of licensed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study recommended, among others, that DMBs should enhance their data analytics capabilities to improve financial performance further....
In light of the growing global emphasis on sustainability, understanding the nexus between green banking practices and banks’ profitability is essential and timely. The main aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis examining the link between green banking practices and banks’ profitability. Based on 28 proxy relationships between green banking and green financing activities on banks profitability, a random-effects metaanalytic model was used to examine the corresponding effect sizes. An overall positive statistically insignificant effect size between green financing and green banking activities on banks profitability was established, implying that green banking activities do not consistently translate into financial benefits. However, this study established considerable heterogeneity of the results due to the application of different methodologies in diverse geographical contexts and varying green financing proxies. The study strongly recommends banks and policymakers adopt tailor-made, evidence-based green financing strategies to align their sustainability initiatives with market realities, regulatory frameworks, and institutional capacities. Such strategies promote the pursuit of both financial performance and environmental responsibility....
A precondition for the existence, stability, and competitiveness of enterprises is their performance. In measuring the performance of enterprises, the priority is mainly to monitor and measure their financial performance. The values of financial indicators reflect all the consequences of ongoing processes in the enterprise. Based on the above, the motivation of the research was to identify key performance indicators within the construction industry of Slovakia. The Slovak construction industry makes up a significant part of Slovakia's GDP, and therefore it is very important to monitor its performance. The selection of key financial performance indicators was carried out using Elastic net and in the second step of selection using Decision tree (DT), Gradient boosted tree (GBT) and AdaBoosted tree (ABT). The results of these methods show very good classification accuracy. The selection of key financial performance indicators includes the Working Capital to Total Assets, Current Ratio and Total Debt to Total Assets, which have been confirmed in several studies as important indicators of the financial performance of construction companies. The identified indicators may be significant for managing the financial performance of these enterprises in practice...
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