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Article History

Received: 1 November 2024

Accepted: 10 June 2025

First Online: 24 September 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. Ethical approval was granted by the Policy Study Institute (PSI) of Ethiopia on September 2022. The letter from the institute (Ref. No. PSI/1399/25) confirms that all research procedures in this study adhered to all relevant ethical guidelines and regulations to ensure participant safety, confidentiality, and data integrity.

: Informed consent was obtained orally from all participants between November 2022 and February 2023, prior to their involvement in the study. The consent procedure was conducted by trained data collectors who explained the purpose, objectives, and procedures of the study in the participants’ preferred local language. Participants were informed about their rights, including voluntary participation, the right to decline or withdraw at any time without consequences, and assurances of confidentiality and anonymity. Participants gave oral consent to: • Participate voluntarily in the study activities as outlined, • Allow the use of their anonymized data for analysis, publication, and future research related to the study, • Permit the sharing of findings with relevant stakeholders and the academic community. All data were anonymized and securely handled to maintain participant confidentiality throughout the research process.

: We have used Open Paperpal on 5/4/2025 for language polishing and editing.

: This study examines the role of SNs in shaping EIs in Ethiopia, focusing on banks and insurance as modern EIs and Edir and Equb as SN-based traditional EIs, using WVS data, interviews, and secondary sources to explore their impact on household well-being and EI development. However, it has limitations that may affect its findings, particularly regarding confounding variables. While we recognize the importance of factors like education, income levels, and access to financial services, these were not fully explored beyond noting no major differences between confirmatory and non-confirmatory groups, potentially missing their broader influence on economic outcomes. Similarly, other variables such as poverty, conflict, and instability, which could significantly affect EIs, were excluded due to the study’s narrow focus on SNs. Additional limitations include challenges in measuring multifaceted SNs, potential biases from self-reported data, difficulties in establishing causality between SNs and economic behavior. These constraints suggest that while SNs are critical, unexamined confounding factors may also shape EI effectiveness, warranting further research.