Primary commodity export and economic growth in sub sahara africa: evidence from panel data analysis

Abstract

The paper sought to examine the impact of instability in primary commodity export earnings and the level of commodity dependence on economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).  Fixed effects panel data estimator was used in the empirical estimation. The findings of the study suggest that there is a negative relationship between instability in export earnings and economic growth. The results also indicate that the level of commodity dependence matter in determining economic growth in the region. The results of the paper have economic development policy implications for SSA economies and these are not farfetched. First, it appears the difficult growth experience of SSA is not solely due to instability in export receipts. The question of continued dependence on a narrow range of primary commodities is also matter of great importance.