Financial and Technological Innovation For Low- and Middle-income Countries

Academic researchers and students with an interest in economics, development studies, fintech. Also Policy professionals (central banks, development agencies) and International organisations (World Bank, IMF, NGOs).

This book explores how digitisation, tokenisation, telemobility and AI are transforming financial systems and economies in low- and middle-income countries, drawing on case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America to challenge conventional economic theory and highlight the global development implications of digital and financial innovation.Financial and technological innovation is considered one of the most important challenges as central bankers, policy makers, and international financial institutions work to stimulate growth and development. Digitization, tokenization, tele-mobility, and AI have all driven the transformation of our financial landscape, with knock-on effects on central banks, the public sector, urban development, health services, education, social protection, and the broader economy. This book focuses on the uptake, use, and transformation of digital technologies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In spite of major barriers to development, LMICs have aggressively adapted digital applications to accelerate development, with the advantage that in many cases new digital applications are not competing with pre-existing products or services; some of the most innovative developments have been where LMICs have moved directly to advanced applications, leapfrogging older technologies that block innovation in many developed nations. Focusing on case studies and evidence from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, across multiple sectors (banking, health, education, public sector, social protection, agriculture, micro, small and medium enterprises, and the gig economy), this book challenges traditional thinking-from financial economics, innovation economics, digital economics, platform economics, and mainstream economics-that tech will have its most important impacts in highly developed countries. This book provides ample evidence that LMICs have real opportunities, many which are already being realized, to use tech to improve the economic and social wellbeing of their citizens. The book examines these developments in the context of concerns arising from digitization, including digital financial inclusion and concerns about data privacy and security, cyber security, job displacement, platform power, and regulatory asymmetries in low- and middle-income countries. While these issues remain salient in LMICs, their impact varies by level of development and specific national context.