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Economic Integration and Financial Development Effect on Selected SSA Countries' Economic Growth

Year 2025, Volume: 12 Issue: 1, 190 - 215, 30.06.2025

Fuat Sekmen , Mahamane Lawali Atahirou Mahamane , Haşmet Gökırmak

https://doi.org/10.47097/piar.1678012

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between financial development (FD) and economic growth within the context of economic integration in five African countries over the period 1970–2018. Employing a VECMX(p,s) model, the analysis provides evidence of both long-term equilibrium relationships and short-term dynamics among the variables. The empirical findings reveal that in Cameroon, financial development has a positive cumulative impact on economic growth. In contrast, no significant effect of FD—whether through broad money or domestic credit—is observed in Benin and Niger. In Chad, FD (as proxied by broad money) exerts a negative influence, while domestic credit remains statistically insignificant. Nigeria shows a positive linkage between broad money and growth, yet no statistically significant effect from domestic credit is detected. Moreover, inter-country spillover effects are observed, suggesting a regional dimension to financial interactions. Overall, the estimated VECMX (3,0) model demonstrates satisfactory predictive performance. Policy implications emphasize the need for country-specific adjustments in fiscal and monetary frameworks to improve credit access, particularly for SMEs and cooperative entities. Regionally, the African Union should design integration strategies that are responsive to the heterogeneous financial structures and institutional realities across member states.

Keywords

VECMX Financial Development Economic Integration African Union.

Ethical Statement

Ethical approval and consent to participate: Scientific content and ethical rules have been obeyed in this study.

References

  • Abdo, H. M. (2008, 3 – 4 novembre). Les échanges transfrontières : L’influence asymétrique du Nigeria sur le Niger dans le commerce des produits céréaliers. [Communication au colloque]. Intégration des marchés et sécurité alimentaire dans les pays en développemen, Clermont-Fd, France.
  • Abdoulaye, A., & Zakaria, B. (2022). Les échanges commerciaux dans le bassin du lac Tchad entre décadence et défi sécuritaire de Boko Haram: Le cas de Kousseri (Cameroun) et N’djamena (Tchad), Akofena, 8(1), 25-38.
  • Akinlo, A. E., & Egbetunde, T. (2010). Financial development and economic growth: The experience of 10 sub-Saharan African countries revisited, The Review of Finance and Banking, 2(1), 017-028.
  • Amidi, S., & Fagheh Majidi, A. (2020). Geographic proximity, trade, and economic growth: A spatial econometrics approach. Annals of GIS, 26(1), 49–63.
  • Banque Mondiale. (2022, January 31). Secteur financier. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialsector/overview (Access Date: 10.12.2024).
  • Beck, T., Levine, R., & Loayza, N. (2000). Finance and the sources of growth, Journal of Financial Economics, 58(1–2), 261-300.
  • Bio Goura, S. (1994). Echanges régionaux et régulation des marchés agricoles: Le cas du Benin et du Niger en relation avec le Nigeria. [Pubished doctoral dissertation]. Montpellier, ENSA.
  • Borlea, S. N., Mare, C., Achim, M. V., & Puscas, A. (2016). Direction of causality between financial development and economic growth: Evidence for developing countries, Studia Universitatis “Vasile Goldis” Arad. Economics Series, 26(2), 1–22
  • Christopher, F. B., (2013). VAR, SVAR and VECM models. Boston College. http://fmwww.bc.edu/EC-C/S2013/823/EC823.S2013.nn10.slides.pdf (Access Date: 21.05.2025).
  • David Ricardo. (1817). On the principles of political economy and taxation (Chapter 7: On Foreign Trade). John Murray.
  • ECA. (2023, August). The AfCFTA, boosting regional integration through trade. https://www.uneca.org/stories/the-afcfta%2C-boosting-regional-integration-through-trade#:~:text=Stockholm%2C%20Sweden%2C%2029%20August%202023,Karingi%20said (Access Date: 22.05.2025).
  • El Menyari, Y. (2019). Financial development, foreign banks and economic growth in Africa. African Development Review, 31(2), 190-201.
  • Engle, R. F. (1982). Autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity with estimates of the variance of United Kingdom inflation. Econometrica, 50(4), 987–1007.
  • Granguillhome, R., Hernandez, M., Lach, S., Masaki, T., & Rodriguez, C. (2021). Lake Chad regional economic memorandum: Development for peace. The World Bank.
  • Haibo, C., Manu, E. K., & Somuah, M. (2023). Examining finance-growth nexus: Empirical evidence from the sub-regional economies of Africa. Sage Open, 13(1), 1-18.
  • Kako Nubukpo. (2021). Du franc CFA à l’Eco: Demain, la souveraineté monétaire ?, Fondation Jean-Jaurès éditions / éditions de l’Aube.
  • King, R. G., & Levine, R. (1993). Finance and growth: Schumpeter might be right. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108(3), 717-738.
  • Landreth, H., & Colander, D. C. (2002). History of economic thought, (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company
  • Levine, R., Loayza, N., & BECK, T. (2000). Financial intermediation and growth: Causality and causes. Journal of Monetary Economics, 46(1), 31-77.
  • Moussa, A. (2018). Does agricultural sector contribute to the economic growth in case of republic of Benin? Journal of Social Economics Research, 5(2), 85–93.
  • Omoshoro-Jones, O. S., & Bonga-Bonga, L. (2022). Intra-regional spillovers from Nigeria and South Africa to the rest of Africa: New evidence from a FAVAR model. World Economy, 45(1), 251-275.
  • Panizza, U. (2014). Financial development and economic growth: Known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Revue d'Economie du Développement, 22(HS02), 35-65.
  • Saifaddin, G. (2024, March 25). Population in Africa 2023, by country. Statista. https://Www.Statista.Com/Statistics/1121246/Population-in-Africa-by-Country/ (Access Date: 05.10.2024).
  • SAS Institute Inc. (2014). SAS/ETS ® 13.2 user’s guide: The VARMAX procedure (chapter 35). https://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/ets/132/varmax.pdf (Access Date: 07.09.2025).
  • Sêgnon, A., & Baudoin, K. (2024). Effets du ralentissement des échanges transfrontaliers entre le Bénin et le Nigéria sur l’économie béninoise. Revue Ouest Africaine de Sciences Economiques et de Gestion, 14(1). 1-22.
  • Smith, A. (1776). The wealth of nations: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London.
  • Stephen, H. (2008, 04-05 March). The finance-growth nexus: Theory, evidence, and implications for Africa [Conference presentation]. Conference on African finance for the 21st century, Tunis, Tunisia.
  • Susmel, R. (2015, August). Econometrics II: Quantitative methods in finance II (FINA 8397) lecture 18 - multivariate time series: Cointegration. C.T. Bauer College of Business. https://www.bauer.uh.edu/rsusmel/phd/ec2-7.pdf (Access Date: 04.06.2025).
  • The World Bank. (2025, May). World Bank Country and Lending Groups. https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups (Access Date: 2,.2025).
  • Union Africaine. (2023). L’état de l’intégration régionale et continentale en Afrique. https://portal.africa-union.org/DVD/Documents/DOC-AU-WD/MYCM%20AU%203%20(V)%20_F.pdf (Access Date: 31.10.2024).
  • Usman, M., Loves, L., Russel, E., Ansori, M., Warsono, W., Widiarti, W., & Wamiliana, W. (2022). Analysis of some energy and economics variables by using VECMX model in Indonesia. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 12(2), 91–102.
  • Viren, R. (2022, May 10). VAR-VECM goodness of fit. Spur Economics. https://spureconomics.com/var-vecm-goodness-of-fit/ (Access Date: 03.06.2025).
  • World Bank, (2024a). Broad money (% of GDP) [Data set]. WDI. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (Access Date: 30.09.2024).
  • World Bank, (2024b). Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) [Data set]. WDI. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (Access Date: 30.09.2024).
  • World Bank, (2024c). GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) [Data set]. WDI. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (Access Date: 30.09.2024).
  • World Economic Outlook. (2024, October). GDP, current prices. https://Www.Imf.Org/External/Datamapper/PPPGDP@WEO/DZA/ZAF/MAR/NGA/EGY/AFQ (Access Date: 05.10.2024).

Ekonomik Entegrasyon ve Finansal Gelişmenin Seçilmiş SSA Ülkelerinin Ekonomik Büyümesi Üzerindeki Etkisi

Year 2025, Volume: 12 Issue: 1, 190 - 215, 30.06.2025

Fuat Sekmen , Mahamane Lawali Atahirou Mahamane , Haşmet Gökırmak

https://doi.org/10.47097/piar.1678012

Abstract

Bu çalışma, 1970–2018 dönemi için beş Afrika ülkesinde finansal gelişme (FD) ile ekonomik büyüme arasındaki ilişkiyi ekonomik entegrasyon bağlamında incelemektedir. VECMX(p,s) modeli kullanılarak yapılan analiz, değişkenler arasında hem uzun dönemli denge ilişkileri hem de kısa dönemli dinamikler olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Ampirik bulgulara göre Kamerun’da finansal gelişme, ekonomik büyüme üzerinde kümülatif ve pozitif bir etki meydama getirmektedir. Buna karşılık, Benin ve Nijer’de FD’nin, ne geniş para arzı (broad money) ne de yurtiçi kredi (domestic credit) kanalıyla anlamlı bir etkisi bulunmamaktadır. Çad’da ise geniş para arzı göstergesi olarak FD’nin büyüme üzerinde olumsuz etkisi gözlemlenirken, yurtiçi kredinin etkisi istatistiksel olarak anlamlı değildir. Nijerya’da geniş para arzı büyümeyi pozitif yönde etkilerken, yurtiçi kredi etkisiz kalmaktadır. Ayrıca ülkeler arasında finansal etkileşimlere dair dışsal etkiler (spillover) de tespit edilmiştir. Modelin tahmin gücü tatmin edici düzeydedir. Politika önerileri, her ülkenin mali ve parasal politikalarını özellikle KOBİ’ler ve kooperatifler için krediye erişimi artıracak şekilde uyarlaması gerektiğine işaret etmektedir. Bölgesel düzeyde ise Afrika Birliği’nin entegrasyon stratejilerini, üye ülkelerin farklılaşan finansal yapıları ve kurumsal özelliklerini dikkate alarak tasarlaması önem arz etmektedir.

Keywords

VECMX Finansal Kalkınma Ekonomik Entegrasyon Afrika Birliği.

References

  • Abdo, H. M. (2008, 3 – 4 novembre). Les échanges transfrontières : L’influence asymétrique du Nigeria sur le Niger dans le commerce des produits céréaliers. [Communication au colloque]. Intégration des marchés et sécurité alimentaire dans les pays en développemen, Clermont-Fd, France.
  • Abdoulaye, A., & Zakaria, B. (2022). Les échanges commerciaux dans le bassin du lac Tchad entre décadence et défi sécuritaire de Boko Haram: Le cas de Kousseri (Cameroun) et N’djamena (Tchad), Akofena, 8(1), 25-38.
  • Akinlo, A. E., & Egbetunde, T. (2010). Financial development and economic growth: The experience of 10 sub-Saharan African countries revisited, The Review of Finance and Banking, 2(1), 017-028.
  • Amidi, S., & Fagheh Majidi, A. (2020). Geographic proximity, trade, and economic growth: A spatial econometrics approach. Annals of GIS, 26(1), 49–63.
  • Banque Mondiale. (2022, January 31). Secteur financier. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialsector/overview (Access Date: 10.12.2024).
  • Beck, T., Levine, R., & Loayza, N. (2000). Finance and the sources of growth, Journal of Financial Economics, 58(1–2), 261-300.
  • Bio Goura, S. (1994). Echanges régionaux et régulation des marchés agricoles: Le cas du Benin et du Niger en relation avec le Nigeria. [Pubished doctoral dissertation]. Montpellier, ENSA.
  • Borlea, S. N., Mare, C., Achim, M. V., & Puscas, A. (2016). Direction of causality between financial development and economic growth: Evidence for developing countries, Studia Universitatis “Vasile Goldis” Arad. Economics Series, 26(2), 1–22
  • Christopher, F. B., (2013). VAR, SVAR and VECM models. Boston College. http://fmwww.bc.edu/EC-C/S2013/823/EC823.S2013.nn10.slides.pdf (Access Date: 21.05.2025).
  • David Ricardo. (1817). On the principles of political economy and taxation (Chapter 7: On Foreign Trade). John Murray.
  • ECA. (2023, August). The AfCFTA, boosting regional integration through trade. https://www.uneca.org/stories/the-afcfta%2C-boosting-regional-integration-through-trade#:~:text=Stockholm%2C%20Sweden%2C%2029%20August%202023,Karingi%20said (Access Date: 22.05.2025).
  • El Menyari, Y. (2019). Financial development, foreign banks and economic growth in Africa. African Development Review, 31(2), 190-201.
  • Engle, R. F. (1982). Autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity with estimates of the variance of United Kingdom inflation. Econometrica, 50(4), 987–1007.
  • Granguillhome, R., Hernandez, M., Lach, S., Masaki, T., & Rodriguez, C. (2021). Lake Chad regional economic memorandum: Development for peace. The World Bank.
  • Haibo, C., Manu, E. K., & Somuah, M. (2023). Examining finance-growth nexus: Empirical evidence from the sub-regional economies of Africa. Sage Open, 13(1), 1-18.
  • Kako Nubukpo. (2021). Du franc CFA à l’Eco: Demain, la souveraineté monétaire ?, Fondation Jean-Jaurès éditions / éditions de l’Aube.
  • King, R. G., & Levine, R. (1993). Finance and growth: Schumpeter might be right. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108(3), 717-738.
  • Landreth, H., & Colander, D. C. (2002). History of economic thought, (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company
  • Levine, R., Loayza, N., & BECK, T. (2000). Financial intermediation and growth: Causality and causes. Journal of Monetary Economics, 46(1), 31-77.
  • Moussa, A. (2018). Does agricultural sector contribute to the economic growth in case of republic of Benin? Journal of Social Economics Research, 5(2), 85–93.
  • Omoshoro-Jones, O. S., & Bonga-Bonga, L. (2022). Intra-regional spillovers from Nigeria and South Africa to the rest of Africa: New evidence from a FAVAR model. World Economy, 45(1), 251-275.
  • Panizza, U. (2014). Financial development and economic growth: Known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Revue d'Economie du Développement, 22(HS02), 35-65.
  • Saifaddin, G. (2024, March 25). Population in Africa 2023, by country. Statista. https://Www.Statista.Com/Statistics/1121246/Population-in-Africa-by-Country/ (Access Date: 05.10.2024).
  • SAS Institute Inc. (2014). SAS/ETS ® 13.2 user’s guide: The VARMAX procedure (chapter 35). https://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/ets/132/varmax.pdf (Access Date: 07.09.2025).
  • Sêgnon, A., & Baudoin, K. (2024). Effets du ralentissement des échanges transfrontaliers entre le Bénin et le Nigéria sur l’économie béninoise. Revue Ouest Africaine de Sciences Economiques et de Gestion, 14(1). 1-22.
  • Smith, A. (1776). The wealth of nations: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London.
  • Stephen, H. (2008, 04-05 March). The finance-growth nexus: Theory, evidence, and implications for Africa [Conference presentation]. Conference on African finance for the 21st century, Tunis, Tunisia.
  • Susmel, R. (2015, August). Econometrics II: Quantitative methods in finance II (FINA 8397) lecture 18 - multivariate time series: Cointegration. C.T. Bauer College of Business. https://www.bauer.uh.edu/rsusmel/phd/ec2-7.pdf (Access Date: 04.06.2025).
  • The World Bank. (2025, May). World Bank Country and Lending Groups. https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups (Access Date: 2,.2025).
  • Union Africaine. (2023). L’état de l’intégration régionale et continentale en Afrique. https://portal.africa-union.org/DVD/Documents/DOC-AU-WD/MYCM%20AU%203%20(V)%20_F.pdf (Access Date: 31.10.2024).
  • Usman, M., Loves, L., Russel, E., Ansori, M., Warsono, W., Widiarti, W., & Wamiliana, W. (2022). Analysis of some energy and economics variables by using VECMX model in Indonesia. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 12(2), 91–102.
  • Viren, R. (2022, May 10). VAR-VECM goodness of fit. Spur Economics. https://spureconomics.com/var-vecm-goodness-of-fit/ (Access Date: 03.06.2025).
  • World Bank, (2024a). Broad money (% of GDP) [Data set]. WDI. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (Access Date: 30.09.2024).
  • World Bank, (2024b). Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP) [Data set]. WDI. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (Access Date: 30.09.2024).
  • World Bank, (2024c). GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) [Data set]. WDI. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (Access Date: 30.09.2024).
  • World Economic Outlook. (2024, October). GDP, current prices. https://Www.Imf.Org/External/Datamapper/PPPGDP@WEO/DZA/ZAF/MAR/NGA/EGY/AFQ (Access Date: 05.10.2024).
There are 36 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Development Economics - Macro
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Fuat Sekmen 0000-0002-8854-8737

Mahamane Lawali Atahirou Mahamane 0000-0003-1036-947X

Haşmet Gökırmak 0000-0003-2294-5382

Early Pub Date June 30, 2025
Publication Date June 30, 2025
Submission Date April 17, 2025
Acceptance Date June 12, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Volume: 12 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Sekmen, F., Atahirou Mahamane, M. L., & Gökırmak, H. (2025). Economic Integration and Financial Development Effect on Selected SSA Countries’ Economic Growth. Pamukkale Üniversitesi İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi, 12(1), 190-215. https://doi.org/10.47097/piar.1678012
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