More recently, there has been increasing recognition of gender perspective to achieve economic growth and sustainable development. Although the nexus between gender equality and economic growth has enjoyed sizeable consideration in the literature, empirical evaluation of the economic growth effect of female economic participation is few. Hence, this study seeks to examine the relationship between female economic participation and the economic growth process of the sub-Saharan African region. In particular, the study tests whether there is an economic growth premium due to female participation in economic activities using data for a sample of 35 sub-Saharan African economies. Employing the Prais-Winsten regression, the findings suggest the existence of a significant positive effect of female economic participation on economic growth in the region. Specifically, a per cent increase in female employment rate and female labour force participation leads to a 0.028 per cent and 0.021 per cent increase in economic growth. Also, the share of working population, domestic credit to the private sector and urbanization rate are positively correlated with economic growth during the study period. The findings imply that female economic empowerment is important for achieving economic growth in the region; hence empowerment of women and girls should be made focal in national and regional development plans as stipulated in goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) plan.

Against the rising trend of urbanization in Nigeria and the accompanying dramatic changes in the urbanization process, this study explores the health advantage of urbanization in Nigeria. The study specifically examines the relationship between various child health outcomes. Secondary data on neonatal, infant, and under-5 mortalities were used to measure child health outcomes. By obtaining cointegration among the collected data, the study investigates the long-run relationships between the degree of urbanization and the various child health outcomes using the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares(FM-OLS) estimator. The results suggest the existence of positive relationships between urbanization and child health indicators. In particular, the results show that there exist child health advantages of urbanization, with urbanization having reducing impacts on the mortality indicators. Also, public health expenditure, literacy rate, and health aids are negatively correlated with measures of children mortality. In all the estimated models, the economic growth proxy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has an insignificant effect on all the measures of child health outcomes. The result implies the need to pay attention to the urbanization process for an effective health plan.

Given the indisputable roles of remittance and financial development in countries’ economic performance, enhancing the nexus between the two variables has become pertinent. The remittance–financial development literature has surged, with a growing argument that making the relationship work is conditioned on mediating roles of certain economic indicators. Despite the overwhelming evidence of the transformative roles of digital technology, the assessment of its possible mediating role in the remittance–financial development nexus is lacking in the literature. Hence, using pooled data of 35 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries sourced from the World Bank’s Development Indicators, this study examined the mediating effect of digital technology in the relationship between remittance inflows and financial development. Using two indicators of ICT—fixed broadband and mobile cellular subscription—the results of the generalized method of moment analysis suggest that digital technology spurs remittance inflows to promote financial development in SSA. The results are consistent for both measures. These findings imply that remittance and digital technology are complementary in promoting financial development in the sub-region. Based on these outcomes, the study therefore advances the enactment of policies aimed at fostering diffusion of digital technology and achieving the sustainable development goal’s recommendation of lower transaction cost of remittances.

This study examines the gender-disaggregated effect of health status on the growth trajectory of sub-Saharan Africa region. The renewed interest in the health status – economic growth nexus stems from the increasing recognition of the importance of health and gender roles in achieving economic growth and sustainable development, particularly in the developing regions of sub-Saharan Africa characterized by poor health, gender inequality and low growth. Health status is proxy by gender-disaggregated data on life expectancy at birth. The study employs the generalized method of moment (GMM) modelling technique, and the result shows that there is gendered differences in the effect of health status on the economic growth process of sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, we find that female life expectancy is positively associated with economic growth. Thus, the study recommends that efforts aimed at promoting health wellbeing in the region should be enhanced. In particular, policies geared towards bridging the gender gap in health should be enacted and implemented.

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