Has Economic Growth of China and India Impacted African Economic Prosperity?

This paper investigates whether the economic growth of China and India matters for the long-term economic prosperity of African nations. Annual World Bank data were used to determine the growth of African countries for the period from 2002 to 2016. The analytical framework includes the standard Barro growth regression model. The Arellano and Bond generalised method of moments estimation procedure was used to analyse the data, overcoming the issues of autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity and endogeneity. The findings based on the generalised method of moments estimation indicate that the economic growth of China, but not of India, had a statistically significant (p = 0.10) positive correlation with the economic growth of Africa. It is concluded that the economic growth of China assumed a significant decisive role in supporting African economic prosperity. Hence, Africa is likely to realise long-term beneficial growth and development effects by actively integrating with large economies, such as China.