Financial Integration and Economic Performance: Comparative Evidence from SADC and ECOWAS Regions

This paper examined the impact of financial integration on economic growth in Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries over the period 1993–2013. Using the Panel ARDL PMG Model developed by Pesaran and Shin, other control variables (trade openness, inflation, government expenditure, and institutional quality) were captured in the model. It was found that there is a significant and positive impact of financial integration on economic growth in the ECOWAS region in the long run. Whereas, even after controlling for necessary variables, financial integration exacerbates negative and insignificant effects in determining economic growth in the SADC region, both in the short run and long run. The insignificant and negative impact of financial integration on the region’s economic growth was attributed to several possible factors, including the low level of financial development in the SADC region, which is unconnected with the poor level of governance, unstable and fragile financial stability, or low creditworthiness, that are prevalent in developing countries like those in SADC countries. The findings suggest, amongst others, that increasing financial integration could improve the productive capacity of the economy, including more investments and the efficient allocation of capital, thus enhancing economic growth in these regions. This paper sheds new insights on a better evaluation of the past and present theorizing on the subjects of financial integration and economic growth, especially in comparing the separate effects on the economies of the SADC and ECOWAS countries.