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The role of technology in the non-renewable energy consumption-quality of life nexus: insights from sub-Saharan African countries

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Abstract

This study examines the impacts of non-renewable energy (NRE) on quality of life (QOL) through the conditioning role of technology on a panel of 43 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period spanning 1990–2019. For easy traceability of the channel through which NRE affects QOL, the aggregate measure of Human Development Index (HDI) was decomposed into three namely life expectancy, education, and per capita GDP (GDPPC). Four indicators such as coal, natural gas, petroleum oil (disaggregated), and fossil fuel (aggregated) capture NRE while ICT service exports are used to proxy technology. The empirical analyses are deployed on a two-step system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) with forward orthogonal and the Panel Fixed Effects. Similarly, the empirical analyses also consider four regions (viz: South, West, East, and Central) in SSA. The following findings are established. First, the indicators of non-renewable energy (NRE) are statistically significant and negatively signed when HDI, life expectancy, and GDPPC are the outcome variables but positive for education. Second, the role of technology is examined from two angles: unconditional (single) and conditional (interaction with NRE variables). Across all models, technology proves to be QOL enhancing. Third, while the test of nonlinearity in the NRE-QOL nexus is confirmed, the findings are also consistent with the sub-regional analyses.

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Notes

  1. These SSA countries and together with their corresponding GDP growth rates include Ghana (8.3%), Ethiopia (8.2%), Cote D'Ivoire (7.2%), Djibouti (7%), Senegal (6.9%), and Tanzania (6.89) (World Bank, 2017).

  2. This includes Seychelles (very high); Mauritius, Botswana, South Africa, and Gabon (high) while other are in the medium and low categories.

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Acknowledgements

The authors of this research article wish to appreciate the editors of this journal and the anonymous reviewers for providing valuable comments and suggestions which greatly improved the focus and quality of the paper. Authors receive no funding for the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

    Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim, Ifeoma Chinenye Nwokolo & Kazeem Bello Ajide

  2. Department of Economics, Crown-Hill University, Kwara State, Nigeria

    Omokanmi Olatunde Julius

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  1. Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim
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  2. Omokanmi Olatunde Julius
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  3. Ifeoma Chinenye Nwokolo
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  4. Kazeem Bello Ajide
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Correspondence to Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim.

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Ibrahim, R.L., Julius, O.O., Nwokolo, I.C. et al. The role of technology in the non-renewable energy consumption-quality of life nexus: insights from sub-Saharan African countries. Econ Change Restruct 55, 257–284 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-020-09312-6

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