This study explores how insecurity influences tax compliance in African countries, highlighting its impact on governance and security. The findings offer insights to enhance governance, boost tax compliance, and promote Africa’s stability and development. Using data from the 7th round of the Afrobarometer survey, we apply logistic regression to explore the correlation between feelings of insecurity and tax compliance. We use nearest neighbor matching to simulate a randomized design, balancing treated and control samples and enhancing causal inference. Our findings show that perceived government failures in public safety significantly impact tax compliance, highlighting how performance perceptions shape behavior.