Mineral resources endowment and economic growth in Southern African countries

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between mineral resource endowment and economic growth in the Southern African economies - using a panel dataset of 14 countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) from 1990 to 2014. The empirical methodology involved the use of ordinary least squares (OLS) and generalised method of moments (GMM) as the estimation techniques. The economic growth model was analysed based on a modified framework from Mahonye and Mandishara (2015). The findings are that real growth in services, real growth of manufacturing, real growth of agriculture, real growth of mining, human capital development, infrastructural development, trade openness, and growth in foreign direct investment, were all important determinants of economic growth in Southern African economies during the study period. Therefore, Southern African countries with natural resources should encourage their development and not be concerned about the threat of 'resource curse'.