Dynamics of economic growth, energy consumption and health outcomes in selected sub-Sahara African countries

Abstract

The study investigates the relationship between energy consumption, economic growth and health outcomes in a representative of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. Annual data over 1990-2014 were sourced from World Bank's World Development Indicators (2016) and fitted in a panel vector autoregression model. The study reveals that neither economic growth nor energy consumption was found to affect health outcomes significantly. The study however shows that medical factor such as health care expenditure remains an important determinant of health outcomes in SSA. However, all the variables employed in the study have joint significance to Granger-cause health outcomes, but individually only CO₂ causes a marked change in health outcomes. Neutrality hypothesis in causal relation is found to hold. No evidence of causality running from proxy of health outcome to energy consumption or economic growth. Likewise, no evidence of causal pattern running from either energy consumption or economic growth to health outcome is found.

Keywords: Health Outcomes, Africa, Energy Consumption, Economic Growth