A Study on Factors Affecting the Usage of Mobile Money in Ethiopia

Mobile Money is a key enabler of financial inclusion that can revolutionize the financial service delivery and hence improve access to finance in emerging economies, especially the East African countries. Although countries like Kenya have shown remarkable achievement in adopting mobile money services for improving access to finance, Ethiopia lags behind with less than one percent adoption rate. This study therefore aims to investigate the major determinants affecting individuals to use mobile money service in Ethiopia and essentially develop practical implication for required actions. The research adopted the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model by integrating additional two factors, specifically government support and trust on mobile money service. Through sampling 200 respondents, the research model and the hypotheses were tested by Structural Equations Model (SEM), with the aid of Amos and SPSS software. The data analysis result found that Government Support, Performance Expectancy, Facilitating Conditions, Trust on Mobile Money Service and Effort Expectancy are the main factors that influence the usage of Mobile Money service in Ethiopia.