Despite significant progress in the empirical analysis of the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on economic growth, previous studies have not empirically examined the mechanisms by which ICT hinders or expands economic growth. The specific aim of the present study was to identify the transmission channels through which ICT contributes to economic growth. The examined channels included; openness, FDI inflows, education, domestic investment, political institution, and inflation. The study employed the panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) and system two step system GMM techniques on a sample of 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the period 2004–2020. Using an ICT composite index, the causal mediation analysis identified that ICT contributed directly to growth, as proposed by the growth theories. Furthermore, the same analysis identified; domestic investment, openness, and education as crucial variables through which ICT penetration indirectly promoted per capita growth in the SSA region. The robustness of this result was verified using a variety of tools. The present findings suggested that the current efforts to expand ICTs in Sub-Saharan Africa should be continued since this sector has a considerable indirect impact on promoting economic growth.

尽管在信息通信技术 (ICT) 对经济增长影响的实证分析方面取得了重大进展，但之前的研究并未对 ICT 阻碍或扩大经济增长的机制进行实证检验。本研究的具体目的是确定信息通信技术促进经济增长的传输渠道。检查的渠道包括；开放、外国直接投资流入、教育、国内投资、政治制度和通货膨胀。该研究在 2004-2020 年期间对撒哈拉以南非洲 (SSA) 的 44 个国家的样本采用了面板校正标准误差 (PCSE) 和系统两步系统 GMM 技术。使用 ICT 综合指数，因果中介分析确定 ICT 直接促进了增长，正如增长理论所提出的那样。此外，确定了相同的分析；国内投资、开放性和教育是 ICT 渗透间接促进 SSA 地区人均增长的关键变量。使用各种工具验证了该结果的稳健性。目前的调查结果表明，目前在撒哈拉以南非洲扩大 ICT 的努力应该继续下去，因为该部门对促进经济增长具有相当大的间接影响。