Microfinance, financial inclusion and income inequalities in WAEMU

By allowing access to financing for the most deprived, microfinance must lead to the reduction of income inequalities between populations. Little research exists on the relationship between the macroeconomic scale of microfinance and income inequalities for WAEMU countries. The BCEAO provides innovative finan-cial inclusion indicators such as demographic and geographic penetration rates of financial services. Using panel data techniques, on annual data, ranging from 2006 to 2020, our results suggest that a more balanced distribution of financial service points, linked to population density, would contribute to reducing inequalities of income within the WAEMU. They also highlight the importance of the role played in this area by the diffusion of electronic money.