Is there any impact from ICT on environmental quality in Africa? Evidence from second‐generation panel techniques

Abstract

Increased infrastructure resilience (SDG9) and reducing climate change's effects (SDG13) have been recognised as key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is a growing argument suggesting the existence of a trade-off between enhancing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure and preserving the environment. The evidence suggests that countries may be required to sacrifice one goal to meet another. Based on an ICT index and the ecological footprint, the present study reinvestigated the impact of ICT on environmental quality for a sample of 47 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 1990 to 2017. In contrast to preceding studies, the present study employed superior econometric procedures to handle heterogeneities across nations and, thus, has produced more trustworthy and efficient results. The results obtained from Driscoll and Kraal's standard error, Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS), and Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) techniques were consistent. They showed that the deployment of ICT services had a favourable but insignificant impact on the quality of the environment in the selected economies. The results also revealed that; renewable energy, education, and political institutions played significant roles in maintaining the quality of the environment. Likewise, the results confirmed the inverted U-shape as suggested in the EKC hypothesis. Overall, the results indicated no trade-offs between increasing infrastructure resilience and maintaining the quality of the environment in the SSA region.