Digital Finance Inclusion and Industrial Sustainability: Insights From Sub‐Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT The study explores the impact of digital financial inclusion on sustainable industrialization in sub‐Saharan Africa, using panel data from 36 sub‐Saharan African countries between 2000 and 2023. The results show that digital inclusion improves access to finance, stimulates industrial innovation, and promotes the integration of marginalized groups into formal economic circuits. Econometric analysis, using robust methods such as fixed effects, GMM, and Kinky least squares, confirms a significant positive effect of financial digitization on sustainable industrialization. However, this effect varies according to the level of technological development, institutional quality, and access to digital infrastructures. The study identifies two main transmission channels for this effect: innovation and access to financing, which explain 30% and 22% of the total effect, respectively. A quantile analysis also reveals that the impact of digital financial inclusion is more pronounced in segments that are better equipped technologically. Finally, recommendations are made for strengthening digital infrastructure, promoting green finance, and integrating financial inclusion policies into sustainable industrialization strategies.