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Exploring the Impacts of Digitizing Financial Products and Services in Microfinance on Entrepreneurial Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa

Arsene Mba Fokwa*, Charles Alain Bita, Fidele Djoumessi

This article aims to examine the impacts of digitizing financial products and services in microfinance on entrepreneurial innovations. Using a recursive bivariate probit regression on panel data from 180 microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa from 2019 to 2022, the main results include a positive and significant influence of the digitization of microfinance products and services on the creation and financing of start-ups, digitization stimulates the financing of the growth of already established businesses, these favorable effects of digitization on entrepreneurial activities are more pronounced in urban areas than in rural areas, these digitization effects are more marked among men compared to women. Furthermore, the digitization of microfinance products and services increases start-up financing more, by 27.35%, than the financing of the growth of existing businesses, by 25.36%. It is imperative to enhance financial innovations bespoke to the clientele's requirements to foster heightened entrepreneurial ingenuity.