Factors Affecting the Adoption and Use of Mobile Money in Africa

Abstract

This research provides preliminary results on context based factors that determines the adoption and use of mobile money (MM) in Africa. Using data from several sources, including Research ICT Africa, International Telecommunication Union and the World Bank, the hypothesized research model tested the context based constructs such as the availability of electricity, enabling regulation and rural dwellings with the technology acceptance model (TAM) to determine how these constructs affect peoples’ intentions and attitudes towards the continuous adoption and use of MM. Exploring these constructs using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique, the empirical results suggest that the perceived availability of electricity is an important factor for the mobile phone functionality to enable adoption and use of MM. Perceived enabling regulation also show a correlation with individuals’ intention to adopt and use MM. However, perceived rural dwelling is found to negatively correlate with individuals’ attitudes and intentions to adopt and use MM because of the inadequate or lack of mobile network and national grid in rural areas. The policy implication is that African governments’ public-private partnerships (PPPs) can assist with the construction of the relevant infrastructure for shared growth