Human Capital Development and Economic Growth in Africa

The study examined the human capital, and economic growth in Africa. Data used were collected over the period between1987 and 2023 for 20 African countries. Panel data were analyzed using unit root test and auto-regressive distributed lag model for long run and short run effects. Analysis was carried out on the combined countries as well as countries grouped into Blocs of North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa respectively. The result of the analysis showed that School enrolment and government expenditure on health exert insignificant positive impact of real gross domestic product growth rate, while government expenditure on education exert significant negative impact of real gross domestic product growth for combined sample of Africa countries. Also, on the long run, human capital variables including school enrolment, government expenditure on education and government expenditure on health has insignificant impact on real gross domestic product growth rate across all blocs though with varying magnitude and signs.