The impact of governance quality on mortality rates in Sub Saharan Africa

Abstract

Background: The study examined the impact of governance quality on infant mortality, maternal mortality and adult female mortality in sub Saharan Africa. Data Source and Methods: World Bank data covering 2002 to 2015 for 31 sub Saharan African countries were employed and analysed utilising the Driscoll and Kraay Fixed Effect Model. Results: Improvements in regulatory quality and total governance reduces infant mortality by 0.1441 and 0.0712 percentage points respectively. Improvements in the control of corruption, regulatory quality and total governance reduces maternal mortality by 0.0788, 0.1324 and 0.0654 percentage points respectively. Political stability reduces adult female mortality by 0.0485 percentage point. Conclusion: There is need for the pursuit of efficient and speedy execution of sound private sector development policies in order to reduce infant and maternal mortality. Enhancing the fight against corruption aids maternal mortality reduction. Political stable environment should be prioritised to reduce adult female mortality. An overall improvement in the quality of governance reduces mortality rates in the region.