Technology and financial inclusion: a case study to evaluate potential and limitations of Blockchain in emerging countries

Abstract

This study considers the idea of Blockchain technology (BCT) as an instrument to solve the problem of financial inclusion in emerging countries. We analyzed the history of Wala, a blockchain (BC) startup born in Africa to build a new financial ecosystem designed to meet the specific needs of low socioeconomic status (SES) individuals. Despite its early success, Wala was forced to retire from the market in 2019, providing a unique case study to analyze the barriers that prevent BCT from deploying its full potential in emerging countries. Our findings show the presence of a mismatch between BCT features and low SES needs, highlighting the need for immediate efforts to solve the digital divide problem and to nudge for the adoption of the new digital technologies in place of the pre-existing informal mechanisms.