Investigating the impact of mobile money to well-being from a capabilities standpoint

Abstract

Using data from the Upper East Region of Northern Ghana, this study examined the influence of mobile money on well-being and development from a competence standpoint. The data reveals that mobile money use has a variety of capability-enhancing effects, ranging from empowerment to engage in the financial system to choice and agency to satisfy multiple functions that lead to higher well-being outcomes in work, health, and education. Erratic power supply and a weak network signal in some places are unfreedoms that must be removed in order for people to benefit from mobile money's enormous potential for well-being and human progress. The long-term reliance on family and social networks for financial assistance is a capability-decreasing element of mobile money. The study's findings indicate the need for development researchers to embrace a diverse and pragmatic conceptualisation of development in information and communication technologies.