EXTERNAL DEBT AND CORRUPTION ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ECOWAS COUNTRIES

Abstract

This paper uses the Pooled Mean Group cointegration technique to investigate the relationship among external debt, corruption, and economic development for 16 ECOWAS countries over the period 1996-2022. Our results show that in the long run, external debt and corruption impact economic development positively and negatively. Meanwhile, the short-run dynamic reported a positive nexus among the trio of external debt, corruption, and economic development in the ECOWAS countries. It was also established that the economy would take four years to adjust back to equilibrium based on the error correction mechanism. The study recommends that the governments of ECOWAS countries should address the menace of rising external debt through the adoption of other sources of capital and the issue of corruption be tackled head-on by such penalties that tend to make corruption less attractive.