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1. Introduction
The low levels of education of the population, strong militarization of the political system and the large presence of the state in the economy serve as a basis for looting public funds and systematizing corruption in African countries (Ajide, 2021; Aracil et al., 2022; Asongu and Nwachukwu, 2015). However, corruption is always higher in poor countries and is the main determinant of economic backwardness in Africa (Ajide, 2021). Parallel to this, the mismanagement of resources and the weakness of economic policies increasingly accentuate inequality and poverty on the continent (Ajide, 2020). In addition, developing countries are characterized by a high number of adults outside the financial system and high corruption rates (Jungo et al., 2022a, b). Jointly, these two economic and social problems have contributed negatively to financial development and economic growth.
The governments of African countries and international bodies, such as the United Nations, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Bank and G-20, have supported initiatives that include fighting corruption and expanding access to financial products and services for the underserved population (OECD, 2019; Van Vu et al., 2018). One of the main barriers encountered in controlling corruption in developing countries is the excess of physical cash outside the financial system (Setor et al., 2021). Cash is an important lubricant for illicit activities such as corruption, terrorism, capital laundering and tax evasion (Setor et al., 2021).
Financial inclusion is a measure that allows all economic agents, regardless of their social conditions, to have access to a safe place to save, apply for financing, make payments and receipts, and contract insurance (Jungo et al., 2021b). Moreover, it is one of the measures used for reducing the informality of the economy (Ajide, 2020), and reducing poverty and inequality (Vo et al., 2021). Financial inclusion also contributes considerably to reduced tax evasion and increased public revenues (Oz-Yalaman, 2019). Moreover, financial inclusion allows social support programs such as cash transfers in the form of anti-poverty grants, alimony and social security to directly reach the beneficiaries, eliminating any possibility of detour (Ajide, 2020; Sinha et al., 2019).
Fintech can produce strong advantages in public finance by increasing transparency and integrity in processes (OECD, 2019); moreover, financial innovation...