Financial Inclusion and Socio-Economic Development in Central Africa: A Multidimensional Panel Analysis

The paper examined the relationship between financial inclusion and socio-economic development in Central Africa with reference to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Angola, and Chad. The study employs a multidimensional Synthetic Financial Inclusion Index (FIIndex) to aggregate access, usage, and affordability measures, examining their impact on GDP growth, literacy, unemployment, and income inequality. The research design employed a cross-sectional quantitative approach, where perceptual data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 102 respondents in urban and semi-urban areas in 2025. The Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations between socio-economic outcomes and perceived financial inclusion, with coefficients ranging from 0.260 to 0.567, supporting the hypothesis that accessibility and use are positively related to economic growth, employment, education, and resilience. The multiple regression analysis revealed that lower income inequality is significantly predicted by employment perceptions (R² = 0.338, p < 0.001). However, country-related variations were not substantial, and t-test and chi-square analyses failed to show significant differences between the DRC and the Republic of Congo, suggesting homogeneous regional perceptions despite the different contexts. These results suggest that financial inclusion contributes to the socio-economic development of informal economies in Central Africa, offering policy implications for achieving a 75% inclusion target by 2030, particularly through digital financial services and gender-based programs.