Effect of information technologies on employment in ECOWAS countries

The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of Information Technologies (IT) on employment in of the countries of the Economic Community of African States West (ECOWAS). Through a panel specification estimated with the DOLS (Dynamic Ordinary Least Square) technique over the period from 1995 to 2021, we showed that information technologies captured by the Internet which is a source of job automation has a negative and significant effect at 1% on employment in ECOWAS countries. Furthermore, when those leaving secondary school have skills in information technology (Internet*TSSE), we see a positive effect of the variable on jobs in the countries of the Economic Community of African States West (ECOWAS). On the other hand, wages (Wage) constitute a channel for creating unemployment in ECOWAS countries. It is therefore, up to ECOWAS leaders to have a secondary education system based on information technologies for their integration into the job market.