Women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion in Morocco

In accordance with the worldwide interest in financial inclusion (FI), Morocco joins this dynamic, particularly for women. This study aims to analyze how women’s economic empowerment (WEE) impacts financial inclusion (FI) using a quantitative approach based on an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. To support the empirical findings, the study incorporates a contextual analysis of the Moroccan socio-economic environment. The results show that in the long-run, income and women employment have significant impacts on FI, while female primary education exhibits distinct short- and long-term impacts. These findings highlight that WEE factors have a significant impact on FI. Moroccan policies should accordingly prioritize female employment and financial literacy to reinforce the banking sector development and to support inclusive growth.