Browsing by Author "Utouh, Harold M.L."

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External debts as panacea to economic growth challenges in selected Eastern African countries: An application of the autoregressive distributed lag mode
(Science Mundi, 2024) Utouh, Harold M.L.; Tile, Augustino; Sesabo, Jennifer Kasanda
Foreign aid has significantly influenced medium- and long-term development initiatives in Eastern African countries. Project aid and non-project aid are the two main categories that describe foreign economic assistance (loans, credits, and grants). The primary aim of foreign aid has been to supplement the internal resources needed to quicken the economic development of the nations in Eastern Africa. This study investigated the influence of external debt on the economic growth of Eastern African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania) using the autoregressive distributive lag mode and panel data (1970–2020). The findings revealed that external debt had a significant adverse effect on economic growth. In Burundi, an increase in external debt reduces GDP by 5% in the short run, while in the long run, it reduces GDP by 19%; in Tanzania, it decreases GDP by 22%; and in Kenya, it reduces the GDP by 13%. Conversely, the findings indicated that the increased level of external debt positively influenced Uganda's GDP (0.03%) but was not statistically significant. Therefore, it is recommended that Eastern African countries source their income, apart from more external concessional debt, through bilateral or multilateral arrangements to plug into their budget deficits. Also, it is recommended that East African governments develop their external debt initiatives that offer further profitable investment opportunities to repay their foreign debt gradually. Moreover, strategies in the East African countries must be geared towards strengthening revenue mobilization to provide avenues to balance their external debts. For instance, improving the informal sector in these countries is a viable base for increasing revenue through taxes
External debts as panacea to economic growth challenges in selected eastern African countries: An application of the autoregressive distributed lag mode
(SCIENCE MUNDI, 2024) Tile, Augustine; Utouh, Harold M.L.; Sesabo, Jennifer K.
Foreign aid has significantly influenced medium- and long-term development initiatives in Eastern African countries. Project aid and non-project aid are the two main categories that describe foreign economic assistance (loans, credits, and grants). The primary aim of foreign aid has been to supplement the internal resources needed to quicken the economic development of the nations in Eastern Africa. This study investigated the influence of external debt on the economic growth of Eastern African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania) using the autoregressive distributive lag mode and panel data (1970–2020). The findings revealed that external debt had a significant adverse effect on economic growth. In Burundi, an increase in external debt reduces GDP by 5% in the short run, while in the long run, it reduces GDP by 19%; in Tanzania, it decreases GDP by 22%; and in Kenya, it reduces the GDP by 13%. Conversely, the findings indicated that the increased level of external debt positively influenced Uganda's GDP (0.03%) but was not statistically significant. Therefore, it is recommended that Eastern African countries source their income, apart from more external concessional debt, through bilateral or multilateral arrangements to plug into their budget deficits. Also, it is recommended that East African governments develop their external debt initiatives that offer further profitable investment opportunities to repay their foreign debt gradually. Moreover, strategies in the East African countries must be geared towards strengthening revenue mobilization to provide avenues to balance their external debts. For instance, improving the informal sector in these countries is a viable base for increasing revenue through taxes.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) and its impact on employment creation: The case of manufacturing sector in Tanzania
(International Journal of Current Innovation Research, 2016) Utouh, Harold M.L.; Rao, M Koteswara
The purpose of this paper is to provide an analytical insight into Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on employment creation in Tanzania, centring on the manufacturing sector which is held as a conduit for social economic development. It analyses the concerted efforts on the part of the government in attracting conspicuous FDI, and in particular, the relationship between the increase in FDI and employment generation. Tanzania started to adopt economic reforms and open policy in the mid-1980s. However, the speed of the Tanzanian government's established policy to attract FDI was more felt in the 1990s and since then the degree of successful efforts to attract FDI has increased. Methodology - The data used in this study consists of total employment, GDP and inward foreign direct investment (FDI). These annual data covered the period from 1980 to 2012 because it is only in this period that the data is available. The methodology to test the effects of the variables i.e., FDI, GDP and Employment creation has been confined to the least squares technique. The co-integration of the variables has been ascertained via the application of the Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test and is found to hold in the long run. Findings – the findings indicate that FDI has a positive and significant effect on employment generation in Tanzania and GDP is translated to have influenced the economic growth. Practical implications – A conducive business environment, a more liberalised economy, institutional restructuring and enhanced private sector-led development will lead to an increase in foreign investment. Local entrepreneurial capacity should be empowered if the country wishes to have sustainable growth and employment creation. Originality - The paper presents original findings based on research related to FDI and employment creation in the sector of manufacturing industries.