Foreign direct investment, information technology and economicgrowth dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa


The research assesses how information and communication technology (ICT) modulates the effectof foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth dynamics in 25 countries in Sub-SaharanAfrica for the period 1980–2014. The employed economic growth dynamics are Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) growth, real GDP and GDP per capita while ICT is measured by mobile phonepenetration and internet penetration. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalised Methodof Moments. The study finds that both internet penetration and mobile phone penetrationoverwhelmingly modulate FDI to induce overall positive net effects on all three economic growthdynamics. Moreover, the positive net effects are consistently more apparent in internet-centricregressions compared to “mobile phone”-oriented specifications. In the light of negative interactive effects, net effects are decomposed to provide thresholds at which ICT policy variablesshould be complemented with other policy initiatives in order to engender favourable outcomeson economic growth dynamics. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.