Beyond Access: Mobile Financial Inclusion Mechanisms and Sustainable Development Outcomes in Nigeria, Kenya and Cameroon

This study examined mobile financial inclusion mechanisms' effect on sustainable development in Nigeria, Kenya, and Cameroon from 2010 to 2024. Mobile money appears merely to broaden financial services among existing users in sub-Saharan Africa. The research assessed mobile money penetration, transactions, and outlet density against the Human Development Index (HDI), juxtaposing their distinct effects across the selected countries. Anchored in UTAUT theory and using secondary data from World Bank Development Indicators and Global Data Index, econometric analysis employed Panel OLS and Granger Causality tests. Mobile Money Penetration produced a neutral HDI effect at the aggregate level with no significant country-specific effects. Transaction volume showed significant Granger-causality with HDI at the aggregate level, though manifesting as adverse in Cameroon, positively lagged in Nigeria, and inconsequential in Kenya. Agent density displayed no meaningful aggregate HDI impact, though Cameroon showed a pronounced favorable country-specific effect. Findings reveal a vital paradox: financial access and account ownership alone do not assure human development. Substantive impact depends on deep service engagement and integration into productive economic activities rather than mere access expansion or infrastructure rollout. Regulators must pivot from elementary expansion to value creation promoting product-linked accounts, transforming agent networks into SME service hubs, and aligning mobile finance ecosystems with national development frameworks to realize concrete advancements in health, education, and living standards across Sub-Saharan Africa.Keywords: Mobile money, financial inclusion, sustainable development, Human Development Index, Sub-Saharan Africa.