This study aimed to determine the channels through which external debt transmits its impact on economic growth in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. To this end, panel data comprising 30 SSA countries were investigated for the period 1985–2019, using the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique. The study identified public investment, private investment and total factor productivity as channels transmitting the non-linear effect from external debt to economic growth. Furthermore, the interest rate was also confirmed as a channel but with a direct effect. Contrariwise, the estimates indicated that savings are not a channel of transmission from external debt to economic growth in SSA. These findings call for urgent action from SSA countries to reduce their external debt stocks and implement alternative macroeconomic non-debt strategies to improve the identified channels to counteract the negative effect of high external debt on them.

中文翻译：

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探索外债与经济增长之间的传导渠道：来自撒哈拉以南非洲国家的证据

这项研究旨在确定外债通过何种渠道传播其对撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）国家经济增长的影响。为此，使用系统广义矩（GMM）估计技术，调查了1985-2019年期间30个撒哈拉以南非洲国家的面板数据。该研究确定了公共投资，私人投资和全要素生产率是将外债非线性效应传递到经济增长的渠道。此外，利率也被确认为一种渠道，但具有直接作用。相反，估计数表明，储蓄不是撒哈拉以南非洲从外债转移到经济增长的渠道。