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We construct a sustainable development model by examining the short‐run relationship, long‐run relationship and causality between renewable energy consumption and economic growth. We consider a sample of 142 countries for 1991–2019 and employ time series analysis. The study noticed the long‐run and short‐run relationship between economic growth and renewable energy consumption in the case of all Countries Groups and regions such as Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Sub‐Saharan Africa and low‐income economies. Overall, we conclude that renewable energy consumption positively influences economic growth, which can motivate countries to achieve sustainable development goals. A nation cannot only focus on economic development when growing environmental and climatic concerns exist. What is essential is the prioritisation of sustainable development goals. The constructed model will help the countries plan, modify and implement national and international sustainable development policies. The results will also be helpful to intergovernmental organisations for channelling countries' efforts towards sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty and inequality represent major policy syndromes that are relevant in the achievement of most United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), while economic growth is also essential for the achievement of attendant SDGs. This study extends existing literature by assessing the conditional influence of poverty, income inequality, and severity of poverty on economic growth. The focus is on 42 countries in SSA with data from 1980 to 2019. The Gini index is used to measure income inequality. Poverty is measured in terms of the poverty headcount ratio, while the severity of poverty is computed as the squared of the poverty gap index. The empirical evidence is based on quantile regressions to assess how income inequality and poverty dynamics affect economic growth throughout the conditional distribution of economic growth. Our main finding shows that the negative response of economic growth to poverty is a decreasing function of economic growth. In other words, the incidence of poverty in reducing economic growth decreases with increasing levels of economic growth. In two specifications, the effect of inequality is negative in bottom quantiles and positive in top quantiles of the conditional distribution of economic growth. Policy implications are discussed, especially as it pertains to (1) the relevance of poverty in mitigating economic growth in SSA contingent on initial levels of economic growth and (2) comparative incidences of poverty and inequality in affecting economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy poverty plagues the sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) region and impedes its socio‐economic development. It is impossible to attain sustainable‐development without alleviating energy‐poverty. In this study, we examine the role of governance and renewable‐energy in alleviating energy poverty for 22 SSA countries from 2000 to 2018 using system generalised method‐of‐moments and three‐stage least‐squares models. Government expenditure is found to increase economic growth, which in turn, reduces energy poverty. On the other hand, energy poverty is found to initially increase and then fall with rising renewable‐energy share. Additionally, the association of energy poverty with socio‐economic, environmental and governance factors, is analysed within a structural‐equation modelling (SEM) framework. Our SEM model shows that government institutional‐factors remain central to reducing energy poverty without compromising environmental‐sustainability. This study suggests that SSA needs transparent governance, strong institutions and a rising renewable‐energy share along with a resilient grid infrastructure to address the energy poverty problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial structure upgrading (ISU) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been improving in recent years, making it essential to examine how such upgrading influences pollution emissions in SSA. However, studies concerning the environment in SSA have overlooked this important role. Consequently, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals becomes futile if such critical issues are not given due attention in policy discourse. In light of this, this study examined the effect of ISU on pollution emissions in 28 SSA countries using data from 1980 to 2020 and employed two key measures of ISU as contributions to the literature. Regarding the analysis, the fixed effects, random effects, and feasible generalized least squares estimators and the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (D-H) causality test were employed. The results show that ISU improves the sustainable environment by reducing pollution emissions in SSA by 0.03–0.04%. Furthermore, economic growth (EG) increases pollution emissions by 0.63–0.72%, but after reaching a threshold level of 0.10%, EG reduces pollution emissions by 0.03–0.04%. This confirms the EKC hypothesis in the selected SSAs. The D-H causality analysis also reveals a bidirectional relationship between ISU and pollution emissions. Based on these results, we conclude that upgrading the industrial structure in SSA is crucial for a clean and sustainable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has shocked the global energy system. It has resulted in tremendous uncertainty and diminished the recent advances to increase access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy—an objective preserved in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG-7). According to the IEA, attaining universal electricity access in Africa in line with SDG-7 entails annual investments of approximately $20 billion over the next decade. Given the sizeable magnitudes involved, it is inevitable that energy projects will need to rely on richer nations for energy aid. This paper explores the linkages between energy-related external aid, carbon emissions, per capita GDP, and electricity access for a sample of 30 low-income SSA countries over 1995 to 2016. Our econometric analysis reveals that while all types of energy aid facilitate economic growth in the long run, there is no direct impact of energy-related aid on electricity access. However, an increase in per capita GDP is positively associated with electricity access in both rural and urban areas. We also find that energy-related aid helps mitigate carbon emissions as well as contribute to GDP. Taken together, our results suggest that enhanced energy-related aid to low-income SSA countries can directly facilitate climate compatible growth and indirectly impel improvements in electricity access thereby helping with poverty reduction. We also advocate regional cooperation among SSA countries as a collective effort to confront shared energy challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to address complex global challenges and cover aspects of social development, environmental protection, and economic growth. However, the holistic and complicated nature of the goals has made their attainment difficult. Achieving all goals by 2030 given countries' limited budgets with the economic and social disruption that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused is over-optimistic. To have the most profound impact on the SDGs achievement, prioritising and improving co-beneficial goals is an effective solution. This study confirms that countries' geographic location and income level have a significant relationship with overall SDGs achievement. This article applies the Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) algorithm to identify the top five SDGs that drive the overall SDG score. The results show that the influential SDGs vary for countries with a specific income level located in different regions. In Europe and Central Asia, SDG10 is among the most influential goals for high-income countries, SDG9 for upper-middle-income, SDG3 in low and lower-middle-income countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, and SDG5 in Latin America and the Caribbean upper-middle-income countries. This systematic and exploratory data-driven study generates new insights that confirm the uniqueness, and non-linearity of the relationship between goals and overall SDGs achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following global debate on clean and responsible access to energy (electricity), access to recreation (tourism), technological innovation, and economic growth for sustainable development as captured by the Human Development Index (HDI), the present study is motivated by the inconclusive guidance found in the literature on technology, tourism industry, and energy. This study adopts the Pedroni residual cointegration test to investigate the cointegration properties of the variables under consideration, while the mean group (MG), dynamic fixed effect (DFE), and the pooled mean group (PMG) estimators are employed for simultaneous short‐ and long‐run analysis. The study is based on annual frequency data from 1995 to 2016 with the adoption of panel analysis to show that technological innovation, tourism development, and access to electricity affected the HDI significantly in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) over the investigated study period. This is instructive for policymakers, as the highlighted sectors are good predictors of sustainable development. Furthermore, consolidating the results that tourism development, electricity access, and technological innovation improves economic development. On the other hand, the growth‐induced, HDI‐fitted model reflects the importance of the examined variables in the sustainable development agenda of the continent. For instance, a 1% increase in tourism increases economic growth by 0.0195%. Similarly, a 1% increase in access to electricity and technological development increases economic growth by 0.0019% and 0.0009%, respectively. In conclusion, this study highlights the multifaceted merits that can be gleaned from access to electricity, tourism, and technological innovation in SSA, as they improve economic growth and HDI indicators that comprise life expectancy, quality education, and per capita income level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) ranks lowest globally in respect of energy access rates. The resulting high energy poverty impedes sustainable economic growth and aggravates the overall poverty which is prevalent in SSA countries. A better understanding of the relationship between financial development and energy consumption can contribute to enhancing sustainable development in SSA. The existing literature presents conflicting evidence regarding this relationship. Our objective is to investigate the symmetric and asymmetric relationships between financial development and energy consumption in SSA, using annual data from 1990 to 2016. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) panel estimator was employed to test for the linear relationship and symmetric effects of the long-run and short-run coefficients. The asymmetry was determined by decomposing financial development into positive and negative components, employing the non-linear ARDL (NARDL) method. The results reveal that a positive financial development shock is positively linked with energy consumption in the long-run implying that further financial development intensifies energy consumption. Results of the negative shock in financial development is positively linked with energy consumption in the long-run implying that the reduction in financial development could decrease energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quest for the attainment of economic development is sought after by all global economies, which by effect is expected to transcend to improving livelihoods and standard of living. However, several factors hinder the process of achieving sustained economic development, especially in developing countries. In this regard, assessing the extent of economic expansion orchestrated by foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in vulnerable economies such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in the face of the significant fall in global FDI inflow, is worthwhile. In essence, this study ascertains the impact of FDI inflows and external debt on economic growth amidst decline in FDI inflows and excessive foreign borrowings. The mixed order of integration from the stationarity test underpins the adoption of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach for data covering the period 1990 to 2018. The empirical results found FDI inflows play a crucial role in achieving economic expansion in the region. On average, FDI inflows, external debt, and foreign aids are more useful in expanding the economy compared to trade openness and exchange rate. Thus, this study recommends the need for SSA to open its economic borders for external capital, viz. FDI. A peaceful economic and political environment is a pre-condition to attract and maintain potential foreign investors. Stability in exchange rates is critical in achieving growth in FDI and other foreign resources. However, caution is required, especially in administration of external resources. Particularly, contracting external debt must strictly be driven by economic reasons rather than political motivation. Borrowed funds could be injected mainly into productive streams with the highest investment returns to boost economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the dynamics of oil price and economic growth in six low-income oil-importing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. These countries are Ethiopia, the Gambia, Liberia, Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania. The study explores the individual countries' energy sources and the effect of oil price on economic growth. The study found that low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa mainly depend on biofuel for energy sources and that oil is mainly used in the transport and services sector. Therefore, while the effect of oil price on the economies of low-income countries may not be huge due to the structure of their energy mix, biofuels have an adverse effect on climate change. However, oil demand has increased in the countries examined in this study, with countries like Liberia spending about 15% of its income on oil imports and Ethiopia's total import volume of petroleum products increasing by approximately 10% from 2017 to 2018. Therefore, low-income countries' policymakers should pay attention to energy efficiency policies, which have the potential of boosting economic growth and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crucial link between agricultural growth and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations Development Programme is established through efficient use of nitrogen in the cereal production systems. Nitrogen, mostly in its reactive form as fertilizer or synthetic N, governs the food production, and reconciles the productivity with economic and environmental considerations. However, N flows in the production system involves a large N leaking to the environment resulting in abysmally low nitrogen use efficiencies and environmental adversity. Agricultural system with sub-optimal N application is characterized with low crop productivity, spiraling into the vicious cycle of poverty, malnutrition and poor economy, a case most common in the sub-Saharan Africa. These essentially relate to SDG 1 (no-poverty), 2 (zero-hunger), 3 (good health and well-being), 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 15 (life on land). Excess or imbalanced fertilizer N in most of China and parts of India led to serious environmental hazards, degradation of land and economic loss. Balancing the amount of N input in these regions will contribute in achieving the SDG 13 (climate action). Meeting some of the SDGs (5, gender equality; 6, clean water and sanitation; 10: reduced inequalities; etc.) requires optimum N application, which will also ensure "responsible consumption and production" (SDG 12). The quest for an appropriate N management needs accounting for the N surplus in a production system, and evolving strategies for increasing the nitrogen use efficiency. Much effort has been made to this effect with varying success. Cutting-edge technological options are although available on the horizon, the success lies in improved awareness among the policy makers, stakeholders and farmers, and better research to quantify the linkage between N management and the SDGs, taking collectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty alleviation has been positioned high on the international development agenda following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000. African countries initiated various missions to establish sustained economic growth by increasing productivity with an ultimate goal of poverty reduction. The significance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in poverty reduction and employment generation is widely acknowledged. Despite the high failure rate amongst SMEs, particularly in the African context, some are striving with excellent results and are demonstrating signs of growth, innovation and sustainability. This paper explores the development of SMEs as a strategic measure for job creation in sub-Saharan Africa. It examines the role of SMEs in achieving sustainable employment in Africa. This study will benefit governments in Africa, getting them to focus on the development of the SMEs, and guiding them on how best to integrate SME development to achieve poverty alleviation. The recommendations proposed in this study may be helpful in policy formulation, business operation and regulatory practice for sustainable growth and development in the sub-Saharan African context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of still-low-but-rising levels of motorization and economic growth, increasing social and spatial inequalities, and growing concerns about air pollution and climate change, the formulation and implementation of policies, practices and partnerships that can support an accelerated implementation of sustainable mobility policies is an urgent concern for rapidly developing cities. This paper seeks to contribute to reframing some of the knowledge and methodologies produced in and about cities of Sub-Saharan Africa, through a comprehensive assessment of mobility patterns and accessibility needs within a larger debate about mobility transitions and sustainable development. By deploying a mixed-methods approach that builds upon case-study focus groups and city-wide accessibility and mobility analysis in the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, the paper maps travel patterns and their links with structural factors such as urban form, poverty, informality and social identities at the macro, meso and micro levels. The paper also presents evidence from a variety of methods that illustrate the significance of accessibility-centred information and analysis for establishing policy priorities for improving urban mobility and accessibility in the local, African and global contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 emphasizes the need for economies around the world to double their efforts in energy efficiency improvements. This is because improvements in energy efficiency can trigger economic growth and considered as one of the 'green' growth strategies due to its carbon free content. To this end, some empirical studies have investigated the nexus between economic growth and energy efficiency, but the effects of the latter on financial indicators have not been sufficiently studied in the literature, at least in developing economies like Africa. This study examines the effect of energy efficiency improvements on commercial bank profitability under different political regimes (i.e., autocratic and democratic political regimes); something previous literature had neglected. The study uses panel data, consisting of 43 African countries and the simultaneous System Generalized Method of Moments. We found that energy efficiency improvement is more likely to induce higher bank profitability in political institutions with the characteristics of centralization of power compared with those with decentralization of power. Furthermore, for the banking sector, the findings suggest that energy utilization behavior of clients should be included in the loan or credit valuation process. For the government, the agenda of energy efficiency should be aggressively pursued while taking cognizance of creating a political environment that weans itself from a 'grandfathering' behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]