Achieving environmental sustainability in Africa: The role of financial institutions development on carbon emissions

This study aims to provide an empirical insight into whether institutional quality moderates the impact of public expenditure on economic sustainability among the Sub‐Saharan African (SSA) countries. Using a quantitative and explanatory research design, this study sourced a 20‐year longitudinal dataset on 48 SSA countries from the World Development Indicators (WDI) and World Governance Indicators (WGI) databases from 2003 to 2022. Both Pooled OLS and System GMM econometric techniques were employed for analysis. It was found that public expenditure and institutional quality positively and significantly influence economic sustainability. However, institutional quality was found to negatively and significantly moderate this relationship. The practical implication suggests nations may face a trade‐off between maintaining institutional quality and ensuring long‐term economic sustainability. The moderation effect of institutional quality is novel in nature and adds to the body of existing literature.

Public expenditure and economic sustainability: Does institutional quality matter?

Kpegba,

Atisu,

Nketiah Sarfo

et al. 2024

Natural resource abundance, governance, and government expenditure: Empirical insights from environmental sustainability

Donkor,

Kong,

Manu

2024

This study examines the quest for environmental sustainability in Africa by analyzing the roles of natural resource abundance, governance quality, and government expenditure. It explores the relationships between these variables, employing the N‐shaped hypothesis across 42 African countries from 1986 to 2020 grouped into resource‐rich and resource‐poor countries. Utilizing the Lewbel 2SLS modeling technique, the research evaluates how these factors interact and impact carbon and nitrous emissions in the region. The findings reveal distinct patterns: resource‐poor countries exhibit an N‐shaped relationship between natural resource abundance and emissions. In contrast, resource‐rich countries show such patterns between government expenditure and carbon emissions. Moreover, in resource‐rich countries, higher natural resource abundance, government expenditure, and governance effectiveness tend to increase carbon emissions but decrease nitrous emissions. Conversely, in resource‐poor economies, carbon emissions decrease with natural resource abundance and governance quality but increase with government expenditure and effectiveness. Additionally, regulatory quality positively correlates with nitrous emissions across all contexts. The study's insights offer valuable guidance for policymakers aiming to foster environmental sustainability, emphasizing tailored strategies based on the diverse impacts of natural resources, governance, and government spending across different economic contexts.

Quest for SDG‐13: The Aptness of Green Investments and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to Emission Mitigation Among Central‐African States

Onifade,

Musah,

Gyamfi

et al. 2024

The Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG‐13) enunciates the need to combat climate change by encouraging necessary actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and this laudable goal was re‐echoed at COP‐28 in the UAE. Although negatively impacted by climate change, the vast literature is silent on the Central Africa (CA) region. Thus, we empirically dissect the emission‐mitigating roles of green investment while integrating the moderating influences of ICT, foreign capitals (FDI), and non‐renewable energy intake, within the region's economic expansion and population growth. We observe that economic expansion has a non‐linear impact on emissions (an inverted U‐Shaped pattern); with initial emission‐inducing effects from non‐renewable energy, financial development, population, and foreign capitals while green investment and ICT mitigate regional emissions. Subsequent expansion in indicators (green investments, FDI, and ICT) significantly mitigates emissions except for non‐renewable energy intake. Green investments' interactive impacts with overall financial development trends also enhance regional environmental goals. Overall, the study posits that CA states can potentially mitigate environmental degradation by leveraging ICT and green investments towards the realization of SDG‐13.