External debt, corruption, and economic growth in selected five Sub-Saharan African countries

External Debt has become a serious issue of concern among the sub-Saharan African countries because of the rising burden of debt servicing. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of external debt and corruption on economic growth of the selected five SSA countries from 1990 to 2015, using two-gap and the modified-Solow growth models. Panel Unit Root and Panel Cointegration tests were employed
to test for stationarity of the series and the long run relationship respectively. FMOLS
estimation technique was then employed to examine the long-run coefficients of the
variables of the model, and panel granger causality test, in order to examine the
direction of causality among the variables. The results indicate that there is negative
relationship between external debt and economic growth, as well bi-directional causality between the two variables. The results also indicate a positive relationship between corruption and economic growth, as well as the existence of no causality between the two variables. The study therefore recommends that the governments
should address the menace of the rising debt through the adoption of other sources of
capital for investment, such as more openness of the economy for more capital, by easing the restrictions on genuine imports and exports of valuable goods and services. It also suggests that the issue of corruption be tackled head-on, by such penalties that tend to make corruption less attractive.