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Paper short abstract:

Many African countries are beginning to tax the mobile money sector in an attempt to widen their tax net. We examine the drivers of the adoption intensity of electronic payment services contributing to understanding the FINTECH in Africa and providing implications for its taxation.

Paper long abstract:

Mobile money adoption and impact vary by sector, region and country across Africa. This study takes up the case of Ghana examining not only the drivers of adoption but also the intensity of adoption, and the qualitative reasons behind the adoption and non-adoption of mobile money services among the economically active population in Ghana. Mobile money prevalence in Ghana surpassed 38.5 million registered accounts and 17.1 million active accounts in 2020. The increasing adoption of mobile money in Ghana is partly linked to the mobile money interoperability implemented by the central bank in 2018, which allows for transactions across different telecommunication networks and linking mobile money to traditional bank accounts. Using novel field data comprising 1200 respondents from Ghana, it applies regression analysis and qualitative data mapping techniques to examine the factors influencing the adoption intensity of electronic payment services, contributing to the broader literature of digitalization and FINTECH in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and providing implications for public attitudes towards fintech policies such as the Electronic levy in Ghana. It lays the groundwork for service providers, regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders to understand not only what drives adoption decisions but also the intensity of use, which is more informative when adoption rates reach or surpass a critical mass.