Fintech and Mobile Money in East Africa: from theories to comparative data analysis in a tri-nation study of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania

This dissertation aims to present a comprehensive examination of Financial Technology (FinTech) and Mobile Money (MoMo) changes in the Eastern African context, taking Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania as focus countries in the data collection and comparison process: The research elucidates the intersections of technology, finance, and societal changes in the region, tracing the narratives of economic development and social transformation as they disclose in the aftermath of these technological innovations. Opening with a contextual understanding, the research first offers a chronological evolution of the FinTech sector, proceeding then with the distinctions of how Mobile Money services have reshaped traditional banking and finance structures in developing countries and particularly in Eastern Africa. The changing aspects of transactions, savings, and credit facilities are presented, emphasizing the enhanced financial inclusivity and democratization brought by such services in areas where traditional banking once struggled to permeate. The dissertation later delves deep into the theoretical keystones and models associated with the economic and social impacts of these services: drawing from academic works and contemporary theories, the study elucidates sets of macroeconomic shifts (GDP growth rates, inflation dynamics, to employment patterns) and the potential micro-level transformations that individuals and households might experience, including elements such as financial literacy, savings habits, and democratization processes of financial services for previously marginalized segments, as rural populations and women (gender divide). Economic and social impacts, deeply and intrinsically influenced in their perspectives and approaches by the fast-pace technological development, represent the real focus of the dissertation: the validation of theories and development models according to the data collection and elaboration, lately highlight beneficial potentialities for the whole African region considered, elements that can be translated at the worldwide level with major application to other development contexts. The subdivision of the work into a distinction between economic and social effects of MoMo in the three nations study must be seen as merely functional for the presentation of theories and data: the very interpenetrative nature of these effects will be later be shown in the conclusions, where also the actual synthesis of the dissertation is drawn in the presentation of a broader comprehensive perspectives. Therefore, GDP analysis, comparisons to economic world’s standards (and regional) over PPP indexes, inflation rates, financial democratization principles; and further with also financial literacy indicators, education, gender divide paradigms, poverty level and regulatory legislation, there will be a discourse about the radical changes quantitively detectable in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, determining the validation of theoretical frameworks in future perspectives. The final objective of the current work, consequently, is to present in a functional way, but comprehensive as well, the broader effects of FinTech and mobile money in East Africa; and as shown in the conclusive chapter, these beforehand paradigms have been validated in their theories and effects-identification, determining the actual set of dynamics currently influencing today’s and future frameworks of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.