An Investigation of the Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on Financial Inclusion in Developing Economies: Case of Sub-Saharan Africa

The main aim of the study was to investigate the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on financial inclusion in developing economies drawing evidence from the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region. The specific objectives were to determine existence of a long-run relationship between artificial intelligence and financial inclusion and to establish causality between artificial intelligence. The study employed the quantitative approach and explanatory research design. Panel data from a convenience sample of 43 Sub-Saharan African countries for the period from 2019 to 2023 was gathered from various secondary sources. The autoregressive distributed lag model was estimated basing on the Generalized Method of Moments technique. The study revealed a significant positive effect of artificial intelligence on financial inclusion. The study further revealed a significant positive long-run and bi-directional relationship between artificial intelligence and financial inclusion. The study concluded that artificial intelligence plays an important role in driving financial inclusion in this era of digitalization. The study recommended governments in the SSA region in the region to increasingly invest in developing and expanding technological infrastructure particularly in underserved or remote areas such as rural areas to promote adoption of artificial technologies for realization of increased financial inclusion.