Abstract
Algorithmic governance, the deployment of data-driven systems, automation, and artificial intelligence in public decision-making, presents transformative possibilities for public financial management (PFM) in emerging African economies. This paper develops a conceptual framework linking algorithmic governance to fiscal system transformation and public value creation, arguing that the relationship between these domains is neither automatic nor politically neutral. Drawing on public value theory, digital governance frameworks, institutional economics, and the political economy of technology, the article examines how algorithmic tools applied to revenue administration, expenditure management, payroll integrity, and public procurement can generate measurable improvements in efficiency, transparency, and accountability. However, the paper equally foregrounds the structural constraints and political risks specific to African governance contexts including infrastructure deficits, weak institutional capacity, data inequality, and the dangers of algorithmic opacity and digital authoritarianism. Through illustrative analysis of experiences in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana, the paper shows that algorithmic reform is neither a technical shortcut nor a neutral intervention; it is a deeply political act that reconfigures power, redistributes information, and reshapes state-citizen relations. The paper concludes with a set of design principles for responsible algorithmic governance and reflects critically on whether such systems can genuinely enhance public value or risk encoding and amplifying existing inequalities in digital form.