STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION VERSUS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES IN SUB SAHARAN AFRICA

Atif Awad

doi:10.32479/ijeep.11516

Abstract

Structural transformation has been recognized as a critical mechanism for improving living standards for developing countries in Africa. However, the growing evidence indicates that such change is associated with considerable damage to the environment quality and, hence, challenging sustainable development. The present study investigates industrialization's influence on the environment quality for 20 low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa during 1980-2018. We employed two measurements for environmental quality, which are CO2 and nitrous dioxide emissions. Likewise, the study applied the Fully modified OLS and the Dynamic OLS as the most modern and suitable techniques related to the panel data analysis. Overall, the FMOL and DOLS results show that industrialization has an insignificant influence on environmental quality. The results also show that these countries' population size is the main driver for environmental quality changes. This finding implies that these countries should continue in their current efforts regarding promoting the industrial sector without wondering about sustainable development.Keywords: EKC; industrialization; Low-income countries; FMOL; DOLS.JEL Classifications: Q560, Q580, O140, O550DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.11516

Highlights

Since the beginning of the new millennium, the figures show that African economies have been growing at a somewhat speedy rate (UNCTAD, 2012)
The results show that the influence of industrialization on the environment depends on environmental measurement
The results indicate that all the variables are I(1)

Summary

Introduction

Since the beginning of the new millennium, the figures show that African economies have been growing at a somewhat speedy rate (UNCTAD, 2012). Bypassing industrialization, a major stage in the structural change and development process, is recognized as a critical explanation(UNCTAD, 2012; Opokua and Boachieb, 2020). Unlike other regions’ experiences, in Africa, the economy jumps directly from agriculture to informal economic activities in the service sector(UNCTAD, 2012; Opokua and Boachieb, 2020). The industrial and manufacturing sector is recognized as the sector able to create new and sustainable job opportunities. With the absence of manufacturing, sustainable and inclusive growth will be unattainable in Africa (Zamfir, 2016; Page, 2011; Gui-Diby and Renard, 2015;World Bank, 2014; Africa Growth Initiative, 2016; Opokua and Boachieb, 2020). Today we can see several initiatives have been emerged to support the importance of creating a fundamental change in the structure of the Africa economy (UNCTAD and UNIDO, 2011)

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