Investigating the nexus of energy consumption, economic growth and carbon emissions in selected african countries

Abstract

The study is focused on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7, 8, and 13. At the nexus of energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon emissions, we investigated the interactive effect of energy consumption and economic growth on carbon emissions for seventeen selected African countries using static panel estimation techniques using annual data from 2000 to 2017. The result shows that an increase in energy consumption positively affects economic growth and negatively affects carbon emissions. However, the impact of energy consumption on economic growth is greater than its adverse environmental effect. We found that economic growth (due to the energy transition in Africa) reduces or dampens the negative effect of energy usage on the environment (indirectly, mitigating carbon emissions). A notable implication of our finding is that the transition to renewable energy is moderating the adverse effects of increasing energy consumption and economic growth on the environment. So, in applying the energy intensity theory to sub-Saharan Africa, a modification is proposed: carbon emissions are directly proportional to the amount of fossil fuel energy consumed per unit of output. We recommend the prioritization of economic growth and productive use of energy towards effectively reducing the negative impact of energy consumption on the environment. Future studies could consider increasing the number of countries, and, if data is available, an artificial intelligence experiment could be undertaken to check the reliability of previous results. We also suggest that future studies consider investigating the persistence of emissions using energy and growth as key independent and moderating variables.