Financial openness, trade openness and financial development: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The study investigates the impact of financial openness (de facto) and trade openness on financial development for 26 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1982–2016. A system Generalized Method of Moments methodological approach is utilised with 5-year averaged data. There is no evidence of the combined/joint impact of trade and financial openness towards financial development which disproves the existence of openness hypothesis by Rajan and Zingales [(2003). The great reversals: the politics of financial development in the twentieth century. Journal of Financial Economics 69(1), 5–50]. Comparatively, the region shows that it can positively benefit from trade openness to financial openness. Even though trade openness shows weak positive impact on financial development, the results are not robust, as they vary from one model to the other. Institutions show positive contribution towards financial development, but the impact is only significant towards private credit by banks. It is recommended that the institutional quality in the region be improved so that the region could fully benefit from international business, largely through investor protection.

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