Policy strategies for balancing digital financial inclusion with environmental sustainability and economic growth: lessons for sustainable development in Sub-Saharan African economies

• Measuring effect of digital financial inclusion on economic growth and environmental sustainability of 15 sub-Saharan African countries over a 10-year period. • The cointegration test which evaluates the existence of a long-term equilibrium relationship between the dependent variables, signifying the existence synchronized movement over time. • Digital financial inclusion, through ATMs and debit cards significantly impacts environmental sustainability. • The insights gained from our analysis have practical implications for policymakers. Our study contributes to the need for policymakers to focus on additional initiatives such as creating a favorable business environment, improving regulatory frameworks, and fostering innovation beyond digital financial inclusion. Digital financial inclusion is essential for economic growth as it gives individuals and businesses access to financial services. However, as people and companies access these services, they often become more affluent, leading to increased consumption of luxury and energy-intensive products, thus impacting CO₂ emissions and, consequently, environmental sustainability. Examining how digital financial inclusion influences economic growth and environmental sustainability has become crucial. Therefore, this study investigates how digital financial inclusion influences economic growth and environmental sustainability in 15 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies. We used panel data covering 11-year period (2011–2021) and employed a Random Effects regression model. The findings reveal that ATMs have an insignificant negative effect on economic growth whiles debit cards have a positive insignificant effect on economic growth. In relation to environmental sustainability, the study reveals that ATMs have significant negative effect whiles Debit cards have positive significant effect on environmental sustainability. It is recommended that policymakers focus on additional initiatives such as creating a favorable business environment, improving regulatory frameworks, and fostering innovation beyond digital financial inclusion.