Abstract:

Studies have shown that when social seclusion and poverty are entwined, it results to an avalanche of deprivation and social disorder. Those that are within the formal financial net, especially the elite become apprehensive and suspicious of the socially secluded poor masses thereby engendering a polarized society that is unwholesome for meaningful economic growth and development. This study examined the relationship between social seclusion and financial inclusion of twenty-seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Granger Error Correction Method (ECM) with General Methods of Moments (GMM) of Arellanon and Bond (1991) were used to analyze the short panel data obtained from the World Bank database. The study found that a negative long-run relationship exists between social seclusion and financial inclusion. That is, increase in social menace overtime, will result to more people being financially excluded from formal financial transactions. It therefore recommends amongst others that government should encourage forcibly displaced persons to become gainfully employed and productive. Specifically, persons in refugee and IDP camps should be trained to acquire skills that will enable them become self-employed, create wealth for themselves and contribute actively to sustainable economic growth of their host country rather than just provide food and other welfare packages as temporal palliative for survival.