South Africa targeted inflation since February 2000 as its monetary policy framework to ensure long-run price stability and continues to pursue a target of 3-6% for headline CPI inflation. Monetary policy emphasises the importance of promoting economic growth that can be sustained and maintenance of low inflation in an economy. Therefore, the paper seeks to check whether a relationship between economic growth (GDP) and expectation inflation exists. The autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) econometric methodology was employed to achieve the objectives. The ARDL bounds test found that there is a long-run cointegration between GDP and expectation inflation. Moreover, the ARDL results revealed that in the long run expected inflation had a negative significant effect on GDP. This implies that lower expectation inflation could stimulate economic growth. It is recommended that South Africa should continue to target inflation because its target band of 3% to 6% keep policy makers on the loop.

Orientation: Economic complexity is a measure of productive capabilities indirectly by looking at the mix of sophisticated products that countries export. The economic complexity index proposed a proxy for diversity and ubiquity of products in the export basket.Research purpose: This study seeks to determine if economic complexity can influence the inequality measured by the Gini index in some selected sub-Saharan African countries.Motivation for the study: The need for the study emanates from the notion that that economic complexity can reduce income inequality hence it is imperative to investigate this relationship in the sub-Saharan African region where most countries produce few sophisticated goods that are also labour-intensive. Inadequate literature within the African continent has also contributed to the formulation of this study.Research approach/design and method: This study employed the autoregressive distribution lag (ARDL) model to analyze a panel data set, which includes eight sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1994–2017.Main findings: We found that economic complexity can reduce income disparities.Practical/managerial implications: Sub-Saharan African countries should shift their productive capabilities and resources from primary to sophisticated products in the manufacturing and services sector to increase economic complexity and reduce inequality.Contribution/value-add: The study makes an important contribution to the debate about the relationship between economic complexity and income inequality in the sub-Saharan African context and it is envisaged that it will inform the actions of the decision-makers to drive future productivity and prosperity in the region.

Foreign direct divestment can occur for either external or internal factors. The determinants of FDI are also the same determinants for FDD. FDD might lead to numerous negative economic factors such as a decline in economic development, reduction in employment and might also cripple the facilitation in technology transfers. In this paper, the FDD concept in the Sub-Saharan African countries was investigated using annual data spanning from 1998 to 2018. The panel autoregressive distributive lag was used to develop the FDD model. The findings of the panel ARDL long run equation revealed that lending rates and urbanisation have a negative and significant influence on foreign direct investment. Further, the findings revealed an insignificant influence of real gross domestic product per capita on FDI. Finally, trade openness showed a positive significant impact on foreign direct investment. We recommend policies that increase FDI through the cost of borrowing since increasing this results in foreign direct divestment. Real gross domestic product per capita cannot be used for policy making purposes in the study. Trade openness makes a country more accessible on the world market and thus, policies that promote foreign trade such as exporting complex and sophisticated products, trade liberalisation, free trade agreements and open trade systems could help reduce the presence of foreign direct divestment in the selected countries. Finally, urbanisation deter foreign direct investment, therefore countries should invest more on infrastructure and reduce poverty in rural areas to transform them into urban areas to decrease urbanisation.

This article investigates if there is a link between economic complexity index and monetary policy lending rates in selected Sub-Saharan African countries. Economic complexity index (ECI) as a measure of productive capabilities and a mix of sophisticated products that countries export, has been found to influence some economic indicators such as economic growth and inequality. Little attention has been paid to ECI's link to lending rates in monetary policy bank lending rate transmission mechanism. In this paper, the ECI-lending rate nexus has been investigated using a panel autoregressive distribution lag methodology. Results indicated a long-run significant relationship with the Kao and Johansen combined cointegration. It was further illustrated in the long-un that ECI estimates have a negative and significant impact on monetary policy lending rates. The series could correct to equilibrium at a significant rate of 25%. These results provided new insights needed for appropriate development economic policy to reduce monetary policy lending rates.

Monetary variables are not only important for the attainment of stable inflation but also for exercising influences in various ways on the behavior of the real economy, including the level of investment activity. Investment is very crucial in improving a country’s productivity and growth and increasing its competitiveness in the long run. The study aims to investigate how monetary variables such as lending rates, exchange rate, and money supply affect investment actions in some selected Sub-Saharan African countries in the period 1980–2018. Using the panel autoregressive distributive lag method in the long run, a negative and significant relationship between lending rates and investment was discovered. Also, investment is positively related to both money supply and exchange rate in the long run. It is recommended that when central banks take contractionary measures, they must always consider the resulting change in investment as it is an essential part of aggregate demand. In a sluggish economy, interest rates should not be raised to the point where investment is discouraged and assets are suppressed.