While financial inclusion is highly touted for enhancing welfare, very little evidence exists with regard to its effect on population health, especially in Africa (where population health is relatively poor). This study therefore provides an empirical evidence of the effect of financial inclusion on population health in 33 African countries from 2004 to 2018. Life expectancy and death rate are used as proxies for population health while four indicators of financial inclusion (number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), number of commercial bank branches, number of borrowers, and outstanding deposits) are used. Moreover, we use the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to generate a combined index of financial inclusion using these four indicators. For multivariate estimation purposes, the dynamic panel system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) regression is employed. The findings of the study show that, financial inclusion enhances population health. Thus, financial inclusion should be deepened in order to improve population health in Africa.
