Impact of information and communication technologies penetration on human development: Evidence from Economic Community of West African States

Human development is a significant component of economic growth and development. Therefore, determinants of human development are crucial to designing and implementing the optimum policies to boost economic growth and development. This study investigates the impact of ICT penetration on human development in the Economic Community of West African States for the period of 2000-2018 through bootstrap cointegration and causality tests. The causality analysis disclosed a unilateral causality from internet usage to human development in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone and a one-way causality from mobile cellular subscriptions to human development in Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Niger, and Togo, but there existed a significant causality from human development to mobile cellular subscriptions in Benin, Cabo Verde, Gambia, and Ghana. On the other side, the cointegration analysis revealed a positive effect of internet usage and mobile cellular subscriptions on human development in the long run. Keywords: Human Development, ICT Penetration, Bootstrap Cointegration Test, Bootstrap Causality Test