Effect of Income Inequality on Economic Growth in Selected West Africa Countries: An Empirical Analysis

The paper empirically investigates the effect of income inequality on economic growth in the selected Western African countries for the period of 1969-2016 by using panel data analysis. The results of panel data method indicates that poverty has positive and statistically significant effect; openness has a negative, and also significant effect on economic growth. On the other hand, inequality and human capita have negative effect on economic growth and slightly statistically significant. The results of this study show that the policy makers should focus on reinvestment in human capital, poverty reduction, land reforms, and infrastructure development as the dynamics of economic growth for these countries