Financial Literacy of legislators in Africa: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

Financial literacy is a catalyst to improve financial decisions and financial inclusion in the society. Existing studies demonstrate a growing research outputs on financial literacy in all facets of the society except the legislature, one of three principal branches of government. Despite the fact that the legislature is the law-making body of financial bills and regulations in the society, little is known about the level of financial literacy of the members of the legislature. This study aims to explore the financial literacy of the legislators in Africa. A survey aided in obtaining primary data from 87 legislators of the Pan-African Parliament in Africa. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive and the probit statistical techniques. The results reveal education, profession and income as the main factors influencing financial literacy of legislators. In addition, the results revealed an average level of knowledge on cash budget, savings and investment, retirement planning and bank accounts of legislators. The study recommends that legislators must enroll in current and relevant financial programs, and use more financial apps for their financial activities. As a first of its kind, the study makes significant contributions to further studies and public policy.

KEYWORDS:

• Financial literacy
• financial apps
• Pan-African Parliament
• legislators

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the European Investment Bank (Luxembourg), Western Sydney University (Australia) and University of Ilorin (Nigeria), the authors’ affiliated institutions for creating the platform for this research. In addition, the authors thank the editors and anonymous reviewers of International Journal of Public Administration for the immense contributions they made to improve the quality of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).