The Effect of Human Capital Investment on Sustainable Development: A Case of Selected West African Countries

The clamour for sustainable development in countries around the world has elicited intense researches on its important determinants with many researchers pointing to human capital investment as a key determinant. This study investigated the effect of human capital investment on sustainable development in West Africa using a panel data of four (4) selected West African countries. The study covered the period 2015 to 2022. The variables adopted for the study were the sustainable development proxied by the sustainable development index, government health expenditure proxied by the government total expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP, government education expenditure proxied by government total expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP and literacy rate proxied by the education index of the selected West African countries. Using the PMG model, the research found a positive relationship between government education expenditure and sustainable development both in the short run and long run. Government health expenditure was negatively related to sustainable development in the short run but showed positive connections to sustainable development in the long run. Education index was negatively related to sustainable development in the short run but was positively related to sustainable development in the long run. Based on the findings of the research, the study recommended increased investment by the government and private sector in the education and health sector West African countries to improve education and health outcomes and increase the chances of achieving the sustainable development goals.