Impact of Social Spending on Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
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Chukwunonso Gerald Iheoma , Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Society for Family Health, Imo State, Nigeria.
The fundamental focus of economic development is the development of the human person, and over the years, there has been a common consensus among development economists on the efficacy of social services in achieving this objective. But, as is the case in advanced countries, is social spending capable of ensuring human development in developing countries? This study aims at providing answers to this question using 20 selected sub-Saharan African countries. The study adopts the fixed effect panel data model and regresses the human development index on health and education spending across these countries estimated using the ordinary least square. Results show that only public health and tertiary education spending are significant in explaining human development in these countries. Private health spending as well as primary and secondary education expenditures were found to be insignificant. Thus, it is recommended that in order to ensure the continued development of the human capital in these countries, increased public funding of the health sector is necessary. Furthermore, ensuring adequate utilization of education sector budgetary allocation especially to the primary and secondary education sub-sectors, and enhancing the availability and accessibility of education services especially to the urban poor and rural dwellers will improve the effectiveness of those sub-sectors in enhancing human development.
Human, Development, Social Spending, Health, Education, Economic Growth
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