This paper provides econometric evidence linking African countries’ per capita total as well as government health expenditures and per capita income to two health outcomes: infant mortality and under‐five mortality. This relationship is examined using data from 47 African countries between 1999 and 2004. Health expenditures have a statistically significant negative effect on infant and under‐five mortality rates. The magnitude of our elasticity estimates are in consonance to those reported in the literature. For African countries, our results imply that total health expenditures (as well as the public component) are certainly important contributors to health outcomes. In addition, we find that both infant and under‐five mortality are positively and significantly associated with sub‐Saharan Africa. The reverse is true for North Africa. While ethnolinguistic fractionalization and HIV prevalence positively and significantly affect the health outcomes, higher numbers of physicians and female literacy significantly reduce these health outcomes. These results have important implications for attaining the targets envisioned by the Millennium Development Goals. The data implications are also discussed.

International remittances flowing into developing countries are attracting increasing attention because of their rising volume and their impact on recipient countries. This paper uses a panel data set on poverty and international remittances for African countries to examine the impact of international remittances on poverty reduction in 33 African countries over the period 1990-2005. We find that international remittances-defined as the share of remittances in country GDP-reduce the level, depth, and severity of poverty in Africa. But the size of the poverty reduction depends on how poverty is being measured. After instrumenting for the possible endogeneity of international remittances, we find that a 10 percent increase in official international remittances as a share of GDP leads to a 2.9 percent decline in the poverty headcount or the share of people living in poverty. Also, the more sensitive poverty measures-the poverty gap (poverty depth) and squared poverty gap (poverty severity)-suggest that international remittances will have a similar impact on poverty reduction. The point estimates for the poverty gap and squared poverty gap suggest that a 10 percent increase in the share of international remittances will lead to a 2.9 percent and 2.8 percent decline, respectively, in the depth and severity of poverty in African countries. Regardless of the measure of poverty used as the dependent variable, income inequality (Gini index) has a positive and significant coefficient, indicating that greater inequality is associated with higher poverty in African countries, much in conformity with the literature. Similar results were obtained for trade openness. In the same vein, per capita income has a negative and significant effect on each measure of poverty used in the study. Our results also show that

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The purpose of this paper is to present the characteristics of youth employment in Africa as well as investigate its macroeconomic determinants, with a view to proffering some solutions. Our empirical estimates, using available cross-sectional data over the period [1991][1992][1993][1994][1995][1996][1997][1998][1999][2000][2001][2002][2003][2004][2005][2006][2007][2008][2009] show that a nation's domestic investment rate is found to be positively and significantly associated with youth employment in the overall Africa and sub-Saharan estimations. However, domestic investment rate is negatively and significantly associated with youth employment in North Africa. Government consumption expenditures negatively and significantly affect youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa. Rising inflation is negatively and significantly associated with youth employment in North Africa. The level of real GDP per capita has a negative and statistically significant effect in both the overall Africa and North Africa youth employment. The quadratic term of real GDP per capita is positive in sign and significant only in the youth employment estimation for the whole of Africa. We find that real GDP growth positively and significantly affects youth employment in the overall Africa, sub-Saharan and North Africa estimations. Other important variables considered are globalization indicators (FDI and trade openness), credit to the private sector, ICT infrastructure, education, demographic factors, institutionalized democracy, time trend, net oil-exporting/importing country, and regional dummies. Key policy implications include increased productive domestic investment; promoting government expenditure effectiveness; reforming the fiscal systems for consolidation by all levels of government; effective regulation of FDI for domestic job creation; improvements in the diversification, competitiveness and value addition of African export commodities; encouragement of entrepreneurship and access to financing for the youth; greater productive infrastructure development; up-skilling, better training and education for the low-skilled workforce; the promotion of effective democracy that will design policies friendly to youth job creation; and efficient management of oil and other natural resources throughout the value chain.