Knowledge-Driven Economic Growth: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa

Stephen Oluwatobi, Isaiah Olurinola (), Philip Alege () and Adeyemi Ogundipe ()
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Isaiah Olurinola: Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria
Philip Alege: Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria
Adeyemi Ogundipe: Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

No 18/030, Research Africa Network Working Papers from Research Africa Network (RAN)

Abstract: The experience of South Korea, India, China and Singapore reveals that developing economies can fasttrack development, leapfrog the stages of development and catch up with advanced economies by putting knowledge capital as the driver of development. If the knowledge economy is therefore an accelerant of development for both advanced and developing economies, it is possible for Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies to also catch up with advanced economies. It was on this basis that this study assessed the knowledge capacity of SSA and the effect it has on its economic advancement. Given the importance of the interrelatedness among the knowledge economy elements, this study, thus, examined how the interaction effect between the elements of the knowledge economy affects economic growth in 32 SSA countries, for which data were available, over the period of 17 years (1996-2012). Using the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM), the study found out that institutions and human capital in SSA mitigate the effect of innovation on economic growth in the region, thus, making it a lean knowledge economy.

Keywords: Economic Growth; Human Capital; ICT; Innovation; Institutions; Knowledge Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 O30 O38 O55 O57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30
Date: 2018-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-knm and nep-sea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Forthcoming: Contemporary Social Sciences

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http://publications.resanet.org/RePEc/abh/abh-wpap ... ic-Growth-in-SSA.pdf Revised version, 2018 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Knowledge-driven economic growth: the case of Sub-Saharan Africa (2020)
Working Paper: Knowledge-Driven Economic Growth: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa (2018)
Working Paper: Knowledge-Driven Economic Growth: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa (2018)
Working Paper: Knowledge-Driven Economic Growth: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa (2018)
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