Lost in Translation: Barriers to Financial Inclusion and State-Building in Ghana

• In Event: Graduate Student Research Lightning Round: Social Movements, Conflict, Coalitions

Abstract

Research on state-building has resurfaced since the 2000s. This paper fits within this renewed research interest in state-building and is specifically concerned by the ways in which barriers to financial inclusion, as a tool for social benefits delivery, give us insights into state-building processes in developing countries. The paper focuses on language barriers in the context of Ghana as there are over eighty different languages spoken throughout the country. Ghana with its extremely high level of language diversity, has thus far struggled with linguistic homogenization. The state has nonetheless allowed English to become the sole language formally used for the access to and delivery of financial services. Therefore, this paper recognizes the importance of financial inclusion for state-building especially in light of the digitization of financial services and the growth of the Financial Technology (FinTech) sector. It further explores the hypothesis that a lack of linguistic homogeneity in Ghana, coupled with relatively high illiteracy levels, negatively impacts financial services take-up, which in turn hinders state-building efforts more generally as, among others, it impacts the state’s ability to channel social benefits.

Author

• Ghita Chraibi, University of Virginia