scholarly journals Trends and drivers of government health spending in sub-Saharan Africa, 1995–2015

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. e001159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela E Micah ◽  
Catherine S Chen ◽  
Bianca S Zlavog ◽  
Golsum Hashimi ◽  
Abigail Chapin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Purchasing Power Parity ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
National Income ◽  
Health Spending ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Individual Country ◽  
Government Health ◽  
Sub Saharan

IntroductionGovernment health spending is a primary source of funding in the health sector across the world. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, only about a third of all health spending is sourced from the government. The objectives of this study are to describe the growth in government health spending, examine its determinants and explain the variation in government health spending across sub-Saharan African countries.MethodsWe used panel data on domestic government health spending in 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1995 to 2015 from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. A regression model was used to examine the factors associated with government health spending, and Shapley decomposition was used to attribute the contributions of factors to the explained variance in government health spending.ResultsWhile the growth rate in government health spending in sub-Saharan Africa has been positive overall, there are variations across subgroups. Between 1995 and 2015, government health spending in West Africa grew by 6.7% (95% uncertainty intervals [UI]: 6.2% to 7.0%) each year, whereas in Southern Africa it grew by only 4.5% (UI: 4.5% to 4.5%) each year. Furthermore, per-person government health spending ranged from $651 (Namibia) in 2017 purchasing power parity dollars to $4 (Central African Republic) in 2015. Good governance, national income and the share of it that is government spending were positively associated with government health spending. The results from the decomposition, however, showed that individual country characteristics made up the highest percentage of the explained variation in government health spending across sub-Saharan African countries.ConclusionThese findings highlight that a country’s policy choices are important for how much the health sector receives. As the attention of the global health community focuses on ways to stimulate domestic government health spending, an understanding that individual country sociopolitical context is an important driver for success will be key.

“Does the poor matter” in pro-poor driven sub-Saharan African cities? towards progressive and inclusive pro-poor tourism

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regis Musavengane ◽  
Pius Siakwah ◽  
Llewellyn Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Urban Tourism ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
African Cities ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to question the extent to which Sub-Saharan African cities are progressing towards promoting pro-poor economies through pro-poor tourism (PPT). It specifically examines how African cities are resilient towards attaining sustainable urban tourism destinations in light of high urbanization. Design/methodology/approach The methodological framework is interpretive in nature and qualitative in an operational form. It uses meta-synthesis to evaluate the causal relationships observed within Sub-Saharan African pro-poor economies to enhance PPT approaches, using Accra, Ghana, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Harare, Zimbabwe, as case studies. Findings Tourism development in Sub-Saharan Africa has been dominantly underpinned by neoliberal development strategies which threaten the sustainability of tourism in African cities. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to three Sub-Saharan African countries. Further studies may need to be done in other developing countries. Practical implications It argues for good governance through sustainability institutionalization which strengthens the regulative mechanisms, processes and organizational culture. Inclusive tourism approaches that are resilient-centered have the potential to promote urban tourism in Sub-Saharan African cities. These findings contribute to the building of strong and inclusive Institutions for Sustainable Development in the Sub-Saharan African cities to alleviate poverty. Social implications These findings contribute to the building of strong and inclusive institutions for sustainable development in the Sub-Saharan African cities to alleviate poverty. Originality/value The “poor” are always within the communities, and it takes a community to minimise the impact of poverty among the populace. The study is conducted at a pertinent time when most African government’s development policies are pro-poor driven. Though African cities provide opportunities of growth, they are regarded as centres of high inequality.

scholarly journals The mobile phone as an argument for good governance in sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 897-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice Asongu ◽  
Sara le Roux ◽  
Jacinta C. Nwachukwu ◽  
Chris Pyke
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Empirical Inquiry ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Mobile Phone Usage

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present theoretical and empirical arguments for the role of mobile telephony in promoting good governance in 47 sub-Saharan African countries for the period 2000–2012. Design/methodology/approach The empirical inquiry uses an endogeneity-robust GMM approach with forward orthogonal deviations to analyze the linkage between mobile phone usage and the variation in three broad governance categories – political, economic and institutional. Findings Three key findings are established: first, in terms of individual governance indicators, mobile phones consistently stimulated good governance by the same magnitude, with the exception of the effect on the regulation component of economic governance. Second, when indicators are combined, the effect of mobile phones on general governance is three times higher than that on the institutional governance category. Third, countries with lower levels of governance indicators are catching-up with their counterparts with more advanced dynamics. Originality/value The study makes both theoretical and empirical contributions by highlighting the importance of various combinations of governance indicators and their responsiveness to mobile phone usage.

The Idea of Economic Development

2014 ◽  
pp. 270-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hippolyte Fofack
Keyword(s):  
National Income ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Development Models ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
Broad Concept ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Development Outcomes

Although development generally refers to a broad concept, the quest for development in sub-Saharan Africa has been biased by ideological considerations which made abstraction of local conditions and people’s aspirations. The prevalent development models have used increased national income as a sufficient statistics for broad-based development. This chapter argues for an alternative and a more comprehensive and reflexive development framework that harnesses local and global knowledge and advocates generalized balanced growth and structural transformation to move sub-Saharan African countries towards self-reliance—their collectively defined aspirational goal. Analytically, it shows that the potential development outcomes of the region under such an endogenous framework would be superior to the results achieved under the prevailing development models.

scholarly journals The Association between Maternal Mortality and Non-Medical factors in African Countries

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 351-362
Author(s):  
P. Lalthapersad-Pillay
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Maternal Mortality ◽  
National Income ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Maternal Deaths ◽  
Medical Factors ◽  
Pregnancy And Childbirth ◽  
Sub Saharan

The medical expertise to treat to complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth has not spared girls and women in developing countries from dying of such conditions. Developing countries account for the bulk of the global share of maternal deaths with complications of pregnancy and childbirth being the leading cause of death in young women aged between 15 and 49. Sub-Saharan Africa is responsible for nearly three-fifths of all global maternal deaths which have saddled it with notoriously high levels of maternal mortality ratios, a concern that has been red-flagged internationally and regionally. Most studies on maternal mortality in Africa have been confined to an examination of factors impinging on maternal mortality from both medical and socioeconomic standpoints for individual country’s based on survey data. Our study differs from others as it employs logistic regression to look at the association between non-medical factors and maternal mortality nationally for all African countries. Whilst the results from the logistic regression suggests that there is no statistically significant relationship between any of the variables and maternal mortality, the odds ratio for Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross National Income per capita (GNI) imply that African countries with low HDI are about three time more likely to have high maternal mortality compared to high HDI countries. Similarly, African countries with low GNI are about five times more likely to have high maternal mortality compared to high GNI countries.

scholarly journals Investigating into the Employment and Income Inequality Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suneila Gokhool ◽  
Verena Tandrayen Ragoobur ◽  
Harshana Kasseeah
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Domestic Investment ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract This paper aims to examine the relationship between employment and income inequality in Sub-Saharan African countries. Even though the region has experienced a decade of positive economic growth, it has the second highest level of income inequality in the world. The drivers of income inequality are quantitatively investigated using data from 1991 to 2015 by the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares technique. The results show that employment, trade and domestic investment reduce income inequality in the region in the long term. Higher trade tends to improve income equality in middle-income countries. Alternatively, domestic investment and trade have more potential to reduce inequality in low-income economies. Controlling corruption is essential in the long run for job creation, irrespective of the development stage of the country. There is thus evidence to show that policies must be oriented to more opportunities of employment, domestic investment, trade and good governance in terms of low corruption.

scholarly journals Corruption, Government Effectiveness and Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 16-34
Author(s):  
Sakiru Akinbode ◽  
Jayeola Olabisi ◽  
Remilekun Adegbite ◽  
Timothy Aderemi ◽  
Abimbola Alawode
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Health Spending ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Method Of Moment ◽  
Government Effectiveness ◽  
Lagged Dependent Variable ◽  
Sub Saharan

Aside economic factors causing low human development which have been extensively studied in literature, the implications of high level of corruption and weak governance prevalent in sub- Saharan African (SSA) countries have not been explored. The study assessed the effects of corruption, government effectiveness and their joint effect on human development in SSA. Data collected on thirty-seven (37) countries within the period of 2005 to 2018 were analyzed using system Generalized Method of Moment which was most suitable for the dataset. Results indicated that lagged human development index (P<0.01), government effectiveness (P<0.05), economic growth rate (P<0.1) and government health spending (P<0.1) had significant positive effect on human development while corruption and its interaction with government effectiveness did not. The results of Arrelano-Bond test of first order autocorrelation and second order autocorrelation of error term as well as the Sargan test and Hansen J test for validity of instrumental variables confirmed the validity of the model. The robustness of the estimation was established as the coefficient of the lagged dependent variable fell between the values in the fixed effect and pooled ordinary least square regression. The study recommended retraining and reorientation of government employees towards the mindset of effective service delivery and strong political will to achieve it, diversification of SSA economies alongside other growth stimulating policies such as reduced lending interest rate on loans meant for the real sector, improvement in the ease of doing business, improved funding of the health sector and proper monitoring of activities in the public service by concerned agencies to curb corruption where it is present.

scholarly journals Healthcare Expenditure and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Birhanu Yimer Ali ◽  
Robert Moracha Ogeto
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Domestic Saving ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan

This paper investigated the effect of health expenditure on economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa. The linear dynamic generalized method of moments instrumental variable (GMM-IV) was used on a panel data of 38 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000-2016. Findings reveal that health expenditure significantly improves economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa. The separate effects of Public and private health expenditures have also shown a significant positive relationship on economic growth. In addition to health expenditure, other determinants like gross domestic saving, foreign direct investment, and labor force brought a statistically significant improvement on economic growth, whereas official development assistance has a statistically insignificant effect on economic growth. This study concluded that health expenditure is an important element in attaining improved economic growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries as it assured a healthy workforce and the country’s populace. Therefore, increasing the amount of health expenditure allocated to the health sector yields a better economy. More on, revising policies to improve gross domestic savings and foreign direct investment also assure a better economic growth.

scholarly journals Health evaluations in Africa – A review of the health strand held at the 7th Biennial Conference of the African Evaluation Association

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edna Berhane
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources For Health ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Biennial Conference ◽  
Sub Saharan

Although Africa has made significant progress in public health over the past several decades, it still faces a very high burden of disease compared to the rest of the world. This overwhelming disease burden is further aggravated by a lack of adequate financial and human resources for health, inequitable distribution of health services, and other social, economic and political factors. Given these constraints, it has become critical for African countries to ensure that health interventions are selected based on evidence and implemented efficiently and effectively to ensure desired outcomes and impact. This has led to an increasing appreciation for monitoring and evaluation as an integral element of programme planning, implementation and scale-up. The importance of M&E within the health sector was recently reflected in the fact that the health evaluation strand was the largest at AfrEA’s 7th Biennial International Conference, held over 3 days in March 2014 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The health strand, which had nine sub-themes, was sponsored, managed, and supported by the USAID-funded AfricanStrategies for Health (ASH) project. This review summarises the health strand presentations, and panel and roundtable discussions. The evaluations featured in the strand were diverse interms of health area focus, evaluation methodology, language and authors’ affiliation. More than 21 African countries from all regions of sub-Saharan Africa were represented. Among thekey recurrent messages highlighted during the conference were the importance of: data use for planning and improving health programmes, data quality, well-functioning M&E systems and identifying and sharing best/good practices.

scholarly journals “DELIVER AFRICA FROM DEBTS”: Good Governance Alone is not Enough to Save the Continent From Debt Onslaught

World Affairs ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004382002110255
Author(s):  
Abel Kinyondo ◽  
Riccardo Pelizzo ◽  
Mwoya Byaro
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Government Debt ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Growth Data ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

The present article analyzes the debt–economic growth nexus in African countries while controlling for the impact of good governance indicators. In contrast to a long tradition of scholarship that has consistently suggested that government debt has a detrimental impact on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, recent studies have actually shown that government debt, when coupled with improvements in the quality of government, is actually a driver of economic growth. By analyzing an original dataset that covers the 2002–15 period and additional debt–economic growth data going up to the year 2020, we are able to suggest three conclusions. First, in the absence of debt, good governance matters in improving economic growth. Second, some dimensions of governance are better predictors of economic performance than others—as the “good enough governance” literature has in recent years suggested. Third, under no circumstances is debt government growth beneficial for the economic performance of African countries. Building on this evidence, we suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic—which has already slowed down African economies and increased their debt exposure—may prevent African countries from making greater progress along the developmental path.

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