The Impact of Peace Accounting on Human Capital Development of Sub-Saharan African Countries

Abstract

Governments all over the world set structures that enable their economy to either grow or be sustained, while also paying attention to the maintenance of peace and order, as well as ensuring the security of lives and property and food. Most countries in the Sub-Saharan part of Africa are faced with various security challenges and consequently, these challenges have become threats not only to their peaceful coexistence but also their economic prosperity. Conflicts are destabilizing the country's economy and the costs of maintaining peace in terms of finances andthe cost in terms of loss of human life and property, and the destruction of social infrastructure are enormous. Peace accounting in accessing the extent of loss incurred as a result of insecurity and alternative way of investing fund to curtail its effects on the economy. This study therefore examined the impact of peace accounting on human capital development in sub-Saharan African countries. . The study adopted ex-post facto research design. The population of the study comprised the 48 Sub-Saharan African countries. Seven countries were selected using stratified and purposive sampling techniques. Data used were obtained from the World Bank databank for 35 years (1984-2018). The study employed inferential statistics using Regression Analysis. Findings revealed that Peace accounting had positive and significant impact on Human Development Index (HDI) (Adj.R² = 0.4533, F stat= 25.60, p< 0.05).The study concluded that peace accounting impacted economic performance. The study emphasized the importance of ensuring security in terms of lives and food these contribute positively to the performance of the economy in terms of the level of human capital development. It was recommended that there is the need for the government of the sub-Saharan African countries to avoid policies and activities of the government of country can lead to conflicts which might disrupt economic activities there by affecting performance, so that more funds can be committed to human capital development.