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Religious Diversity and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: So Far So Good

Author

Listed:
  • Oasis Kodila-Tedika

    (Department of Economics University of Kinshasa)

  • Julius Agbor Agbor

    (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University (South Africa))

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of religion on a broad set of development outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. We regroup these outcomes into three broad categories, namely, development process outcomes (growth, investment, conflict, and government quality), institutional outcomes (property rights and the rule of law) and social development outcomes (social and gender protection). Using two new measures of religion - religious fractionalization (RELFRAC) and religious polarization (RELPOL), alongside the traditional measure of religious diversity, our results suggest that broadly speaking, religion or religious diversity has no statistically significant impact on the institutional and social aspects of development in sub-Saharan Africa. However, our findings do suggest that religion has important effects on the development process through its effects on investment. The analysis suggests that African policy-makers need to pay attention to the changing religious dynamics and increasing religious polarization of African societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Julius Agbor Agbor, 2014. "Religious Diversity and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: So Far So Good," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 16(1), pages 99-117.
    • Handle: RePEc:afe:journl:v:16:y:2014:i:1:p:99-117
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    Cited by:

    1. Simplice A. Asongu & Oasis Kodila†Tedika, 2017. "Is Poverty in the African DNA (Gene)?," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(4), pages 533-552, December.
    2. Asongu, Simplice, 2015. "Rational Asymmetric Development: Transfer Mispricing and Sub-Saharan Africa’s Extreme Poverty Tragedy," MPRA Paper 71175, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Asongu, Simplice A & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2016. "Unjust Enrichment from Official Corruption in Africa: Theory and Model on how Lenders have benefited," MPRA Paper 75416, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Simplice A. Asongu & Paul N. Acha-Anyi, 2020. "A survey on the Washington Consensus and the Beijing Model: reconciling development perspectives," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 67(2), pages 111-129, June.
    5. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Simplice A. Asongu & Matthias Cinyabuguma, 2024. "The White Man’s Burden: On the Effect of African Resistance to European Domination," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 49(2), pages 1-19.
    6. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "Rational Asymmetric Development: Transfer Pricing and Sub-Saharan Africa’s Extreme Poverty Tragedy," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 15/017, African Governance and Development Institute..
    7. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Simplice A. Asongu & Matthias Cinyabuguma, 2016. "The White Man’s Burden: On the Effect of African Resistance to European Domination," Research Africa Network Working Papers 16/016, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    8. Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "Rational Asymmetric Development: Transfer Mispricing and Sub-Saharan Africa’s Extreme Poverty Tragedy," Research Africa Network Working Papers 15/054, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    9. Bingqian Tu, 2025. "Bridging or Breaking: Unraveling the Impact of Village Religious Diversity on Individual Trust in China’s Ethnic Regions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 617-651, September.
    10. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Asongu Simplice, 2016. "State fragility, rent seeking and lobbying: evidence from African data," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(10), pages 1016-1030, October.
    11. Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2026. "Religion and corruption: Are there any saints?," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1-40, December.
    12. Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "Rational Asymmetric Development: Transfer Pricing and Sub-Saharan Africa’s Extreme Poverty Tragedy," Research Africa Network Working Papers 15/017, Research Africa Network (RAN).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
    • O5 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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