Organized crime, corruption and the challenges of economic growth in the economic community of West African states

Purpose - This study aims to examine organized crime, corruption and their challenges to the economic growth of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Organized crime and corruption can have a grossly negative impact on the economic growth process of every system, but the extent of damage they have needs to be measured to determine the policy implications to the region. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses the fixed effects model and the feasible generalized least square known also as the random-effects model with the pooled ordinary least square as a control on the defined objectives using secondary time series data that covers the period 2000 to 2019 for 11 countries in the ECOWAS region. The panel nature of the data set provides a rich degree of freedom with 220 (20 years for 11 countries – 20*11 = 220) observations. Findings - Results show among others that organized crime does not have a significant impact on economic growth, whereas corruption significantly reduces economic growth. Research limitations/implications - Unavailability of data affected the scope of the study in the areas of a number of countries selected and years chosen for the study. The implication is that it would have given the study better degrees of freedom. Practical implications - The practical implication of this study has exposed corruption hinders economic growth in West Africa. Social implications - The social implication of the study is that it has exposed that though the organized crime was a bad phenomenon it does not retard economic growth significantly in West Africa. Originality/value - This study is original and of immense importance as its the first study to focus on organized crime and corruption’s influence on economic growth among West African states.