Fintech and Financial Inclusion Bibliometric Data for Southern Africa, 2017–2025

629 English-language publications from Scopus between 2017 and 2025 form the basis of this bibliometric analysis. The dataset includes information on authors, institutions, countries, citations, and keywords, compiled by Alan Munodei. It reveals an annual publication growth rate of 91.25% and identifies three dominant knowledge clusters in the field.

Use Cases

• Analyze publication trends and collaboration patterns based on author and institution data.
• Map thematic evolution and research clusters based on keyword co-occurrence networks.
• Assess the global influence and citation impact of research from specific countries like China and South Africa.
• Identify emerging research trajectories for future studies on digital literacy and sustainable fintech ecosystems.

Strengths

• Based on 629 publications from the Scopus database, providing a structured sample.
• Includes detailed bibliometric metrics such as a 91.25% annual growth rate and 33.7% international co-authorship rate.
• Provides specific keyword frequency statistics, e.g., 'financial inclusion' represented 10.8% of all keyword occurrences.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is limited to English-language publications from a single database (Scopus), which may introduce source bias.

Provenance

Source

Scopus database.

Collection Method

Bibliometric performance analysis, co-occurrence network analysis, thematic mapping, and citation analysis conducted using RStudio Bibliometrix software.

Time Range

2017–2025

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-15 13:15:25; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Africa, with contributions from global authors (e.g., China, South Africa).