The Role of Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is the provider of many critical natural resources. With such resources, one would expect these countries to have thriving economies. Why is the opposite case true? To answer such a question, this paper examines a few critical causes that may justify the current economic situation these African countries are experiencing. Specifically, the paper observes the economic impact of civil war and terrorist conflict in sub-Saharan Africa from 1971 to 2016. To explore the changes in GDP per capita for all these years, this thesis sheds light on three independent variables: year of conflict, education level, and foreign direct investment for many of the 47 sub-Saharan African countries. Replicating Paul Collier’s Bottom Billion, this thesis will delve into more recent trends of the past two decades, and why the lack of economic advancement is pertinent to these countries. With the results obtained, this thesis proposes solutions to lowering the impact of civil conflict, and steadily advancing the economies across the African continent