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This study examines whether digital transformation is associated with higher labour productivity in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and whether the relationship strengthens with human capital. A fully open panel is constructed from World Development Indicators and Penn World Table 11.0 for 13 SADC economies over 2005-2023. Digitalisation is measured by the first principal component of internet use, mobile subscriptions and fixed broadband. The empirical strategy combines country fixed effects with Driscoll-Kraay covariance and a pooled dynamic common correlated effects error-correction model. Country-cluster bootstrap inference, an equal-weight digital index, sequential country deletion and threshold estimation provide robustness checks. The long-run digital coefficient is positive (0.239; 95% bootstrap interval [0.033, 0.425]), while the error-correction coefficient indicates stable annual adjustment (-0.566; interval [-0.820, -0.208]). The digitalisation-human-capital interaction is not supported (-0.041; interval [-0.102, 0.015]), and the threshold slope difference also includes zero. H2 is rejected for the aggregate PWT human-capital index, not for skills in general. The findings identify a durable average digital productivity premium without evidence that national education stocks automatically magnify it. Policy should combine reliable connectivity with targeted, use-specific capabilities and business-ecosystem coordination.

This paper tests whether government effectiveness and regulatory quality amplify the productivity return to digitalisation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). A fully unrestricted panel combines World Development Indicators, the 2025 Worldwide Governance Indicators revision and Penn World Table 11.0 for 15 economies over 2005–2023. Digitalisation is a principal-component index of internet use, mobile subscriptions and fixed broadband. Separate governance equations avoid mechanical multicollinearity. Country fixed effects with Driscoll–Kraay covariance are compared with pooled dynamic common correlated effects error-correction models. Digitalisation has a positive short-run association in the government-effectiveness equation (0.056; 95% country-cluster interval: 0.008–0.155), while regulatory quality has a positive direct short-run coefficient (0.208; 0.064–0.309). Neither governance measure positively magnifies digital returns. Long-run interaction intervals include zero; the regulatory-quality short-run interaction is negative (−0.069; −0.123 to −0.004), and threshold slope differences are unsupported. Error correction is stable in both equations, and country deletion preserves positive digital coefficients. Institutions remain important direct capabilities, but broad governance scores should not be presumed automatic digital multipliers. Policy should connect specific regulatory and implementation reforms to identifiable adoption constraints rather than relying on general institutional upgrading alone.

This study examines the relationship between digital globalization and educational access in Africa. It uses publicly available secondary data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) ICT database and UNESCO education statistics. While digital transformation is widely promoted as a catalyst for inclusive human capital development, cross-country heterogeneity in Africa raises questions about whether digital expansion uniformly enhances educational access. Employing panel quantile regression for a balanced panel of African countries over the period 2005–2023, the paper investigates how ICT penetration, trade openness, and digital infrastructure affect educational participation across different points of the distribution of access indicators. The findings indicate that digital globalization exerts heterogeneous effects: countries at lower quantiles of educational access benefit more strongly from increases in internet penetration and mobile connectivity, whereas upper-quantile countries exhibit diminishing marginal returns. Institutional quality and governance metrics serve to moderate these observed relationships. The findings contribute to the existing body of research concerning the digital divide, globalization, and educational inequality, specifically by illustrating that digital transformation mitigates disparities, particularly in contexts where fundamental access limitations persist. Consequently, the policy implications emphasize the need for infrastructure expansion, regulatory adjustments, and targeted digital inclusion initiatives, all of which should be congruent with the African Union Digital Education Strategy.

The study examines how institutional quality and digital financial inclusion influence economic growth in SADC from 2000 to 2022, using panel data from the World Bank and IMF. It applies fixed- and random-effects models, selecting the appropriate model via the Hausman test, and uses Driscoll–Kraay standard errors to address heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional dependence. The empirical results suggest that institutional quality, proxied by legal rights, has a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth at the 5% level (β = 0.000231, p = 0.0348). In comparison, financial inclusion is also positive and significant at the 1% level (β = 0.02345, p = 0.0010). Notably, the findings provide evidence of a synergistic relationship between institutional quality and financial inclusion, in which improvements in governance frameworks strengthen the growth-promoting effects of financial inclusion. The overall model is statistically significant (Prob > F = 0.0475) and accounts for roughly 40% of the variation in economic growth. These findings suggest that isolated policy interventions are inadequate; rather, a coordinated ecosystem of governance and financial systems is necessary. Enhancing legal and regulatory institutions improves the efficacy of digital financial systems, consequently optimising resource allocation and fostering inclusive growth. The study advances the existing literature by offering region-specific evidence on the synergistic interaction between institutional quality and financial inclusion within a developing-country context. From a policy perspective, the findings emphasise the need for integrated strategies that simultaneously promote institutional reforms (e.g., the rule of law and regulatory quality) and expand digital financial infrastructure. Such complementarities are crucial for boosting regional competitiveness, encouraging financial deepening, and fostering sustainable economic growth in the SADC region.