‎‎More than 300 million adults in Africa, about 42 percent of the adult population, have neither bank nor mobile money accounts, highlighting the facade of financial inclusion on the continent, World Bank says in a new study.

The Global Findex 2025 Digital Connectivity Tracker notes that of the 50 economies around the world on Global Findex 2025 which have account ownership rates lower than 60 percent, 21 are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It cites lack of money as the most common reason for lacking accounts, with 59 percent of the adult respondents giving this reason.“Given that mobile money accounts are the dominant type of account in the region and are the source of most of the growth in account ownership, it is important to examine what people without accounts might need to open one,” the Bank says."Across sub-Saharan Africa, not having enough money was the most frequently cited barrier to mobile money account ownership, with 59 percent of adults without accounts reporting it. This barrier's prevalence varies by sub-region, though it is consistently an issue for at least one other barrier. "‎‎In East Africa, 65 percent of the adults blamed lack of cash for their inability to own mobile money accounts.

For example, whereas almost two-thirds of adults without accounts in West Africa have mobile phones, less than half of adults without accounts in Central and East Africa do.

In Ethiopia, only 39 percent of adults without an account have mobile phones.

Men and women without accounts are equally likely to have mobile phones, except in East Africa, where 50 percent of men without accounts have phones, compared with 37 percent of women.“The biggest barrier to account ownership among digitally ready adults who lack accounts but have mobile phones, IDs, and SIM cards is that they do not have enough money. About half of them name that as a barrier, whereas about 20 percent cite each of the other barriers offered as responses to the survey question, such as distance to an agent.”The report notes that distance to a mobile money agent is an issue for 28 percent of adults without accounts in the continent, and although mobile money agents are more pervasive than commercial banks in many of the region’s economies it might still be difficult for some adults to access them, especially in more remote areas.

In Central Africa, this is an obstacle for a little more than a third of adults, compared with 21 percent in Southern Africa.

The cost of mobile money products is a barrier for 23 percent of adults without accounts, with limited sub-regional variation, though wide variation at the level of individual economies: 47 percent of adults without accounts in Chad highlighted costs, whereas just 8 percent did in The Gambia.

About 18 percent of adults without mobile money accounts worried about account safety and the share of adults without an account who reported this as a barrier ranges from 26 percent in Central Africa to 13 percent in East Africa.‎‎The adults who lack mobile phones of any kind say that the cost of the device is the biggest barrier they face to owning one.

In Africa 77 percent of the adults cited not having enough money for a device as main reason for not owning a mobile phone while 34 percent cited difficulty reading or typing.

Others cited using someone else’s phone (31 percent), expensive mobile minutes (25 percent), unreliable coverage (23 percent), family or community disapproval (14 percent) and personal safety or security concerns (14 percent).

The report singles out lack of ‎ necessary documentation as the second-most common barrier to mobile money account ownership on the continent.‎‎Depending on the account opening due diligence requirements for a given economy, the documentation could include the applicant's personal ID as well as some form of address verification such as a utility bill with their name on it.‎‎"These barriers might be addressed with more accessible and affordable accounts that leverage networks of local agents and offer lower pricing. Mobile money and other digitally enabled accounts are often more likely to have these characteristics,” the report says.

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