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This paper provides an overview of the effect of research and development (R&D) expenditure and government effectiveness on economic growth. By focusing on R&D expenditure as a measure of innovation, government effectiveness as a measure of governance and GDP as a measure of economic growth, we examined the effect of R&D and government effectiveness on GDP in selected African countries. Four countries were chosen due to the availability of their data from 2000 to 2016. Linear regression and correlated panels corrected standard errors (PCSEs) regression models were used to analyze the data. The result showed that both R&D and governance are important factors in predicting economic growth in Africa. Therefore, only innovation through increasing R&D expenditure and good governance can sufficiently drive sustainable economic growth and development in Africa. Thus, African countries need to strengthen and build their research and development capacity while ensuring the effectiveness of their government to achieve sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]