Remittances, financial development and economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries: evidence from a PMG-ARDL approach

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship among remittances, financial development and economic growth in a panel of 20 sub-Saharan African countries over the period of 2000 and 2015. The study used both Pooled Mean Group and Mean Group/ARDL estimations with panel unit root and cointegration tests. After establishing cointegration, remittances and financial development were found to have positive effects on economic growth both in the short and the long run. The interactive term showed that financial development acted as a substitute in the remittances-growth relationship. Finally, unidirectional causal relationships were found to exist from GDP to remittances and from financial development to GDP. However, no causality existed between remittances and financial development in the SSA countries.