Tourism, Migration, And Productive Capacity Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa

Anthony Orji; Elis Moses Onoh; Onyinye Imelda Anthony-Orji; Jonathan Emenike Ogbuabor; Oluchi Okoro; Joseph Fanen Akpesue

doi:10.36923/ie-frontiers.v28i2.406

Open Access Article Economics Macroeconomics

Anthony Orji ⁽¹⁾ , Elis Moses Onoh ⁽²⁾ , Onyinye Imelda Anthony-Orji ⁽³⁾ , Jonathan Emenike Ogbuabor ⁽⁴⁾ , Oluchi Okoro ⁽⁵⁾ , Joseph Fanen Akpesue ⁽⁶⁾

1. Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

2. Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

3. Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

4. Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

5. Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

6. Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

https://doi.org/10.36923/ie-frontiers.v28i2.406

Issue
Vol. 28 No. 2 (2025): Continuous

Submitted
September 27, 2025

Accepted
November 27, 2025

Published
December 19, 2025

Keywords:

Productive capacity, International tourism receipts, Net migration, System GMM, Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa

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Abstract

Productive capacity has emerged as a critical indicator of long-term economic development, particularly for regions undergoing rapid structural transformation, such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite increasing global interest, the key drivers of productive capacity in SSA remain insufficiently explored, especially within the context of tourism and migration. Existing studies predominantly rely on GDP-based growth models and often examine tourism and migration separately, overlooking their combined influence on structural development. Moreover, the role of institutional quality in shaping productive capacity is under-investigated. This study examines how international tourism and migration affect productive capacity growth in SSA, while also considering the contributions of urbanization, trade openness, and institutional quality. Using panel data from 38 SSA countries between 2011 and 2021, the analysis employs a dynamic System Generalized Method of Moments (System GMM) estimator to address endogeneity, unobserved heterogeneity, and simultaneity among variables. The results indicate that international tourism and migration exert positive and statistically significant effects on productive capacity. Institutional quality emerges as the most influential driver, followed by urbanization and trade openness. These findings underscore the importance of structural and governance-related factors in enhancing the region’s productive capacity. Tourism and migration contribute meaningfully to productive capacity growth; however, their impact is substantially conditioned by the quality of governance and structural enablers. Policymakers should adopt sustainable tourism strategies, strengthen security and infrastructure, develop migration-friendly frameworks, enhance human capital, and prioritize institutional reforms to maximize long-term productive capacity in SSA.

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Authors

Anthony Orji

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4032-7051

Elis Moses Onoh

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7664-6772

Onyinye Imelda Anthony-Orji

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0603-7264

onyinye.anthony-orji@unn.edu.ng (Primary Contact)

Jonathan Emenike Ogbuabor

Oluchi Okoro

Joseph Fanen Akpesue

Author Biographies

Anthony Orji

Dr. Anthony Orjiis a PhD holder in Economics and a Lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Young Academy. He is also an Alumnus and Fellow of the African Program on Rethinking Development Economics (APORDE), Johannesburg, South Africa; A Fellow of International Economic Issues and DevelopmentPolicy, New Delhi, India; a Fellow of the African Science Leadership Programme, South Africa, and a former Visiting Scholar to the University of Laval, Quebec, Canada. He has published widely and attended several national and international conferences. He is a member of many research organisations and has participated in several research projects funded by the following institutions: World Bank, Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP), African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), and others. His teaching and research interests are in development economics, capital flows, agriculture, macroeconomics, monetary economics, gender issues, finance, and resource mobilization

Elis Moses Onoh

Elis Moses Onoh is an Economist and a researcher. His research interest is in the areas of Capital Flows, Development Economics, Monetary Economics, Finance, and Resource Mobilization, and he is very versatile in the use of econometrics software packages.

Onyinye Imelda Anthony-Orji

Dr. Onyinye Anthony-Orji is a Ph.D holder in Economics and a lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She has published widely in local and international journals, and her research interest is in the areas of Development Economics, Monetary Economics, Finance, and Resource Mobilization.

Jonathan Emenike Ogbuabor

Dr. Jonathan Ogbuabor is a renowned scholar, lecturer, and researcher. He obtained his Master’s Degree from the University of York, United Kingdom, and his Ph.D in Economics from the Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is a member of many professional bodies, including the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), among others. He has attended many national and international conferences and publishes widely. His teaching and research interests are in the field of Development Economics, Climate Change, Agriculture, Energy Economics, Monetary Economics, and Applied Econometrics.

Oluchi Okoro

Oluchi Okoro is an Economist and a researcher. She is a great scholar and an expert in Capital Market Analysis and other areas of Economics. She has attended many capacity-building programmes as a sound scholar.

Orji, A., Onoh, E. M., Anthony-Orji, O. I., Ogbuabor, J. E., Okoro, O., & Akpesue, J. F. (2025). Tourism, Migration, And Productive Capacity Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa. Innovation Economics Frontiers, 28(2), 31-40. https://doi.org/10.36923/ie-frontiers.v28i2.406

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