## A Governance Dividend for Sub-Saharan Africa?

_IMF Working Papers, January 11, 2019_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Amine Hammadi, Marshall Mills, Nelson Sobrinho, Vimal V Thakoor, Ricardo Velloso
- Published: January 11, 2019
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484354872.001

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### Summary
- 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.
- The paper estimates that strengthening governance and mitigating corruption in the region could be associated with large growth dividends in the long run.
- 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.

### Key findings and projections
- Strengthening governance and reducing corruption in SSA is associated with potentially large long-run growth dividends.
- Quantified projection: moving the average SSA country governance level to the global average could increase GDP per capita growth by about 1-2 percentage points.

### Mechanisms linking governance to growth
- Weak governance affects economic performance via deficiencies in government functions.
- Weak governance distorts economic incentives, which undermines investment and productivity.

### Policy implications and recommendations
- Improving governance and mitigating corruption should be priorities for SSA countries seeking to strengthen long-run economic performance.
- Achieving the projected growth dividends would require considerable time and effort to raise governance levels to the global average.

*IMF Working Paper No. 2019/001*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2019/01/11/a-governance-dividend-for-sub-saharan-africa-45871_