A Comparative Analysis of Government Social Spending Indicators and their Correlation with Social Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper analyzes trends in social indicators in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and their correlation with the three most widely used scaled measures of government social spending: in per capita terms, as a percentage of GDP, and as a percentage of total government expenditure. On the basis of a regional data set matching health and education outcome indicators with government spending on those sectors, cross-country statistical analysis shows spending both per capita and as a percent of GDP to be of some relevance to social outcomes, but not the share of social spending in budgetary allocations. The policy implications concern not only governments in the region, but also the international donor community for its role in supporting social programs in SSA.

In doing so, it has added to the trend of increasingly explicit social motivation in
international development assistance that emerged in the mid-'| 990s and led to
unprecedented debt forgiveness under the Initiative for the Heavily indebted Poor
Countries (HIPC Initiative) (Camdessus, 1997). Since then, greater priority has
been placed by aid providers on visibly and timely improving social conditions in
recipient countries, while still emphasizing economic growth as indispensable for
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