The IMF Working Papers series is designed to make IMF staff research available to a wide audience. Almost 300 Working Papers are released each year, covering a wide range of theoretical and analytical topics, including balance of payments, monetary and fiscal issues, global liquidity, and national and international economic developments.
Amine Hammadi, Marshall Mills, Nelson Sobrinho, Vimal Thakoor, and Ricardo Velloso
Publisher:
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Published Date:
January 2019
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5089/9781484354872.001
ISBN:
9781484354872
ISSN:
1018-5941
Page:
43
Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) tend to lag those in most other regions in terms of
governance and perceptions of corruption. Weak governance undermines economic
performance through various channels, including deficiencies in government functions and
distortions to economic incentives. It thus stands to reason that SSA countries could
strengthen their economic performance by improving governance and reducing corruption.
This paper estimates that strengthening governance and mitigating corruption in the region
could be associated with large growth dividends in the long run. While the process would
take considerable time and effort, moving the average SSA country governance level to the
global average could increase the region's GDP per capita growth by about 1-2 percentage
points.
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