Public Policies And Private Savings And Investment In Sub Saharan Africa

This paper assesses empirically the role of public policies in stimulating private savings and investment in sub-Saharan African countries, based on data for the period 1986-92. The main findings of the analysis are as follows: (i) policies effective in stimulating private savings and investment include those that keep the rate of inflation low, reduce macroeconomic uncertainty, promote financial deepening, and lower the external debt burden; (ii) measures that promote structural reforms and reduce the budget deficit (without lowering government investment) help to raise private investment; and (iii) declines in government savings are only partially offset by increases in private savings.

This paper assesses empirically the role of public policies in stimulating private savings and investment in sub-Saharan African countries, based on data for the period 1986-92. The main findings of the analysis are as follows: (i) policies effective in stimulating private savings and investment include those that keep the rate of inflation low, reduce macroeconomic uncertainty, promote financial deepening, and lower the external debt burden; (ii) measures that promote structural reforms and reduce the budget deficit (without lowering government investment) help to raise private investment; and (iii) declines in government savings are only partially offset by increases in private savings.

The analysis of this paper indicates that the unsatisfactory overall economic performance of sub-Saharan African countries during 1986–93 was due to inappropriate policies pursued by a number of countries. The countries that have pursued broadly appropriate adjustment policies have performed much better, achieving positive per capita GDP growth. The analysis is supported with an econometric investigation of the effects of macroeconomic policies, structural reforms, and exogenous factors on economic performance. The results indicate that progress in achieving macroeconomic stability and implementing structural reforms have been conducive to better growth, savings, and private investment.

The paper investigates empirically the determinants of economic growth for a large sample of sub-Saharan African countries during 1981-92. The results indicate that (i) an increase in private investment has a relatively large positive impact on per capita growth; (ii) growth is stimulated by public policies that lower the budget deficit in relation to GDP (without reducing government investment), reduce the rate of inflation, maintain external competitiveness, promote structural reforms, encourage human capital development, and slow population growth; and (iii) convergence of per capita income occurs after controlling for human capital development and public policies.

Africa is the world’s poorest continent, but amid all the bad news, there is hope for change. This pamphlet examines the lessons to be learned from some of the more successful economies south of the Sahara, and discusses a policy framework to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty across the region.

This paper analyzes the factors affecting economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, using data for 1981–97. The results indicate that per capita real GDP growth is positively influenced by economic policies that raise the ratio of private investment to GDP, promote human capital development, lower the ratio of the budget deficit to GDP, safeguard external competitiveness, and stimulate export volume growth. The favorable evolution of these variables played an important role in the region’s apparent postreform recovery of 1995–97. The paper also discusses a policy framework to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa

This contributed volume examines development efforts in sub-Saharan Africa and the role privatization and foreign investment can play. The focus is on African and international capital mobility and recent experience in private investment in contemporary African states. While government in Africa continues to have a hand in economic and political matters, private enterprise, private investment, and market forces are becoming increasingly active. The volume reveals these new directions in development practice in Africa and analyzes the difficulties which government, while well-intended, has created in the past. Contributors from the United States and Africa pose questions and examine scenarios for investment in sub-Saharan Africa. And while no single strategy is agreed upon, they provide overwhelming evidence that it has been the failure of prior central policies which has held these nations back, and that hope for the 1990's lies in the unleashing of the private sector. This work will be of interest to scholars and policy-makers in development economics, international trade and finance, and African studies.