Relationship between Insurance and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan African: A Panel Data Analysis

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between insurance and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1986-2011. Pooled OLS, Fixed Effect Model and Generalized Method of Moment Panel Model were employed in the estimation. The estimations of the dynamic panel-data results show that insurance has positive and significance impact on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. This shows that premium contributes to economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa which means that a well-developed insurance sector is necessary for the economic development, as it provides long-term investments for economic growth and simultaneously strengthening risk-taking abilities. The results also show that human capita has positive significant impact on economic growth. Openness and interest rate have negative and statistical significant on economic growth.