Do Governance Matter for Economic Growth? Evidence from West Africa Countries

Abstract

The study examines the impact of governance on economic growth in selected West African countries namely Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Niger republic from 1996 to 2020 using panel data. The study employed traditional panel data analysis which is pooled ordinary least square and random effect model as suggested by Hausman test. The result of the pooled least square indicates that, gross fixed capital had positive impact on economic growth and employment had positive but not statistically significant impact on economic growth, while control of corruption and political stability had a negative impact on economic growth but accountability and voice on the other hand have positive impact on economic growth. The result of the random effect model showed that gross fixed capital had positive impact on economic growth in West Africa. Employment had a positive but not statistically significance impact on economic growth, control of corruption had negative and not statistically significant impact on economic growth. Political stability had negative and statistically insignificant impact on economic growth in West African countries, while accountability and voice have positive impact on economic growth in West Africa. This study recommends that West African countries should address the issue of corruption so as to improve economic growth in the region and also create employment opportunities among youths to ascertain higher economic growth and good governance.