Environmental Challenges 4 (2021) 100092

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Environmental Challenges
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envc

Investigating factors affecting renewable energy consumption: A panel data

analysis in Sub Saharan Africa
Sydney Oluoch a,∗, Pankaj Lal a, Andres Susaeta b
a
Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
b
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 315 Newins Ziegler Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: Renewable energy remains Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSAs) best option to leapfrog and escape the learning curve in
Sub-Saharan Africa energy access while simultaneously combating climate change. Consequently, it is imperative to understand the
Renewable energy relationships between SSAs renewable energy consumption and social, economic, and environmental explanatory
Panel data
variables. This paper puts forward an empirical model to outline the factors that can promote renewable energy
consumption. We considered the panel autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) panel models of 23 SSA countries
with annual data from 1998 to 2014. From the main findings, the dependent variable renewable energy con-
sumption is significant and positively correlates with the independent variables gross domestic product (GDP)
per capita and education index in the long run as expected. Whereas renewable energy consumption is significant
and negatively correlates with the independent variables, CO2 emissions per capita, and life expectancy index in
the long run. The study highlights the potential of effective management and implementation of renewable energy
development in promoting social indicators such education indexes, while improving economies and reducing
CO2 emissions.

1. Introduction
Climate change driven by anthropogenic activities remains one of
the most notable global threats facing both the developing and devel-
oped world (Acheampong et al., 2019; Ito, 2017). This has resulted in
an impetus to shift from intensive carbon-based energy to greener tech-
nologies (Asongu and Odhiambo, 2021; Inglesi-Lotz, 2016; Ito, 2017).
Energy remains essential to economic development, as modern comforts
and industrial production processes depend on energy (Akintande et al.,
2020; McGee and Greiner, 2019; Shahbaz et al., 2015). As develop-
ing countries strive to meet their economic goals, they are faced with
doing so at the cost of the environment (Acheampong et al., 2019;
Akintande et al., 2020; Asongu and Odhiambo, 2021). Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) has emerged as the greatest growing economy with an
estimated real GDP growth of 5% over the period of 2000 to 2020
adding up-to $3.5 trillion in the form of business spending (WEF, 2016;
UNIDO, 2016). This growth goes hand in hand with the use of en-
ergy, leading to the question of how SSA will meet its increasing energy
needs? Despite this economic growth, access to electricity has stagnated
over the years increasing from about 23% to 47.7% between 2000 and
2014 (Acheampong et al., 2019; da Silva et al., 2018; WDI, 2018). This
could be attributed to population growth outpacing the rate of growth
in electricity generation (Sarkodie and Adams, 2020; Nyiwul, 2017).
Most SSA countries in the region rely on carbon intensive non-
renewables and unsustainable use of biomass as the main source of en-
ergy that results in environmental degradation (Adedoyin et al., 2021).
Despite the dependence on non-renewables, SSA average renewable en-
ergy consumption is currently at 63.7% which is higher than other de-
veloped and developing regions globally (Fig. 1). SSA countries are also
vulnerable to the catastrophic consequences of climate change such
as food insecurity, scarce water resources, deterioration of natural re-
sources’ productivity, shrinking biodiversity, decline in human health,
land degradation and desertification (Oluoch et al., 2019). Hence, the
need for energy to fuel the desire for economic growth in SSA is at
a critical stage where the balance between mitigating climate change
and the ability to use scarcely available capital for clean energy ven-
tures must be put in place (Apergis et al., 2018; Wesseh and Lin, 2016).
Many SSA governments have come to this realization and are develop-
ing energy policies increasingly open to the development of renewables
(Kazimierczuk, 2019; Pueyo, 2018).
SSA countries have made a commitment to the Paris climate agree-
ment that aims to lower global carbon emission levels (Africa Renew-
able, 2016). However, the main challenge for SSA is meeting these en-
vironmental goals while simultaneously achieving economic prosperity
(Opeyemi et al., 2019). Renewable energy technology has the capacity
to sustainably bridge the energy access gap and foster economic growth

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: oluochs1@montclair.edu (S. Oluoch).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100092
Received 30 November 2020; Received in revised form 23 March 2021; Accepted 24 March 2021
2667-0100/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
S. Oluoch, P. Lal and A. Susaeta
Fig. 1. Renewable energy consumption global trends from 1990 to 2016 (WDI, 2018).
in SSA due to abundant renewable energy resources (Nyiwul, 2017).
The advantage that SSA countries have over developed countries is
that they can employ innovative technologies without having to follow
the historical trajectory of energy systems that have resulted in nega-
tive environmental impacts (APP, 2015). Despite these advantages, SSA
stands to bear the greatest negative impact of climatic change due to
low economic development, high dependence on traditional biomass re-
sources, and low technological advancement (Acheampong et al., 2019;
APP, 2015). Currently, SSA contributes about 7.1% of the global green-
house gas (GHG) emissions, which is relatively small considering that
it hosts 14% of the world’s population (WDI, 2018) (Fig. 2). However,
rapid population growth and expanding economies could contribute to a
significant increase in SSA’s GHG levels and exacerbate climate change
(da Silva et al., 2018).
1.1. Prior empirical studies in SSA
Several studies demonstrating the ability of renewable energy to
improve energy security, provide socio-economic benefits, reduce lo-
cal pollution, decentralize energy to remote areas, and mitigate climate
change have been conducted (Inglesi-Lotz, 2016; Salim and Rafiq, 2012;
Shahbaz et al., 2015). However, there remains a consensus among many
authors that the drivers behind different types of non-renewable energy
consumption have been studied extensively, whereas the drivers be-
hind renewable energy are yet to be fully quantified (Inglesi-Lotz, 2016;
Ito, 2017; Salim and Rafiq, 2012). Furthermore, Nyiwul (2017) and
Sardosky (2009) admit that while there has been active research in mod-
eling the relationship between renewable energy consumption and in-
come in developed economies, there remains a gap in the domain of
renewable energy and technical efficiency in developing countries.
Amongst these groups of studies are Wesseh and Lin (2016) that pro-
vided an insight to the effectiveness of renewable energy for 34 African
2
Environmental Challenges 4 (2021) 100092
countries over a time of 1980–2011. They considered real GDP, both re-
newable and non-renewable energy consumption, total labor force, cap-
ital, and state of technological progress. Renewable energy was found
to be a better driver for economic growth than conventional fossil fu-
els over the study period. They established that transition from non-
renewable to renewable is limited due to scale, economics and sitting
problems. Esso and Keho (2016) examined the long-run and casual re-
lationships among energy consumption, CO2 emission and economic
growth for 12 SSA countries from 1971 and 2010. They found that en-
ergy consumption and economic growth results in atmospheric pollu-
tion. Adams et al. (2016) examined the relationship between energy
consumption and economic growth, and the role of democracy in mod-
erating this relationship using panel data of 16 countries in SSA from
1971 to 2013. Their findings were interaction between energy consump-
tion and democracy is positively related to economic growth, support-
ing the view that democracy facilitates energy consumption and eco-
nomic growth. A more recent study by da Silva et al. (2018) confirms
the need for further investigations on the potential and status of re-
newable energy in SSA. Using panel – autoregressive distributed lags
(ARDL) model covering 1990–2014, they analyzed how renewable en-
ergy in electricity production is affected by factors such as crude oil
prices, population growth, CO2 emissions and GDP per capita. Their
findings were as follows, economic development and an increased use
of energy aid renewable energy development while population growth
impedes it. Acheampong et al. (2019) measured the impact of glob-
alization, trade openness and renewable energy on carbon emissions
for 46 SSA countries between 1980 and 2015. They applied the fixed
and random effect estimation and found that renewable energy and for-
eign direct investments contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions
while trade openness deteriorates the environment. Asongu and Odhi-
ambo (2021) applied the generalized method of moments (GMM) and
quantile regression to investigate linkages between financial develop-
S. Oluoch, P. Lal and A. Susaeta
Fig. 2. Global trends for CO2 emissions per capita 1990 to 2015 (WDI, 2018).
ment, income inequality and renewable energy consumption from 39
countries in SSA. Their outcome showed that financial development pro-
motes renewable energy consumption, whereas income inequality coun-
teracts the positive effect. Apergis et al. (2018) used panel methods to
explore the link between CO2 emissions, GDP per capita, renewable en-
ergy consumption, and health indicator for 42 SSA countries spanning
the period 1995 to 2011. Their results show a long-term relationship
between variables with renewable energy consumption reducing CO2
emissions.
Asongu et al. (2019) investigated the conditional relationship be-
tween renewable energy and environmental quality in 40 SSA countries
from 2002 to 2017. Their findings suggest that renewable energy de-
creases CO2 emissions. Opeyemi et al. (2019) investigated the dynamic
relationship between renewable energy consumption with trade perfor-
mance, corruption control, regulatory quality in 42 SSA countries us-
ing the GMM methods. They found a negative relationship between re-
newable energy consumption and trade performance, whereas a poten-
tial net positive impact on manufacturing impact for renewable energy
consumptions and the strengthening of corruption control, regulatory
framework, and finance for private sector. For our study we investigate
the role of governance of institutions measured by corruption percep-
tion index to influence renewable energy consumption. Except for the
study by Silva et al. (2018) and Opeyemi et al. (2019), the role of social
factors such as corruption perception influencing institutional and regu-
latory frameworks that support renewables has not been fully exploited
in SSA. We use the ARDL approach using the full pooled mean group
(PMG) estimator to assess the short and long relationships of explana-
tory variables. We move one step further than Silva et al. (2018) by
exploring how the influence of explanatory variables on specific coun-
tries in the short run relationships, with the goal of highlighting factors
that may explain renewable energy consumption trends in some coun-
tries and make suitable policy recommendations. Specifically, we aim
to contribute to this existing research gap by combining economic (GDP
per capita), social (life expectancy index, education index, and corrup-
tion perception index) and environmental (CO2 emissions) variables in-
3
Environmental Challenges 4 (2021) 100092
order to analyze the contribution that each variable has on renewable
energy consumption in context of 23 SSA countries from 1998 to 2014.
The rest of this paper is structured as follows: the second section dis-
cusses methodology including the theoretical model approach used and
data manipulation; the third section has a discussion that concludes the
analysis.
2. Methodology
2.1. The panel ARDL-PMG method
In this study we apply the panel ARDL-PMG method as proposed
by Perasan et al. (1999) that is an error correction method efficient at
defining short and long relationships (Uzar, 2020a). The PMG estima-
tors assume that the explanatory variables can be treated as exogenous,
and there is a long-run relationship between the dependent and explana-
tory variables (Lee and Wang, 2015). Unlike the mean group (MG) es-
timator that uses the average value of coefficient for each country and
assumes that the slope coefficients and error variance are the same for
each country. The PMG estimator assumes that the long-term coefficient
is homogeneous for each country, while short-term coefficient and error
variance are heterogenous (Lee and Wang, 2015; Uzar, 2020b). Further-
more, da Silva et al. (2018) point out that the panel-ARDL method is
more suitable than the other panel data methods such as fixed effects,
instrumental variables and GMM estimators, as these methods can pro-
duce inconsistent estimates unless the coefficients are identical across
countries. The panel-ARDL method produces consistent and efficient es-
timators and eliminates endogeneity problem by including the lag length
of the variables (Uzar, 2020b).
We present the ADRL (p, q, q,…,q) panel model as described by
Perasan et al. (1999) with Renewable Energy Consumption (REC), as the
dependent variables for group i in response to many factors described
as:
∑𝑝 𝑞
∑
𝑅𝐸 𝐶𝑖𝑡 = 𝛼𝑖𝑗 𝑅𝐸 𝐶𝑖, 𝑡−𝑗 𝛿 ′𝑖𝑗 𝑋𝑖,𝑡−𝑗 𝜇𝑖 + 𝜀𝑖𝑡 (1)
𝑗=1 𝑗=0
S. Oluoch, P. Lal and A. Susaeta Environmental Challenges 4 (2021) 100092

Table 1
Variables, definition and descriptive statistics.

Variable/Acronym Definition Min 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max

Renewable energy Share of renewable energy in 16.59 64.38 79.62 73.11 90.32 97.97
consumption (% of total) total energy consumption.
(REC).
GDP per Capita (current US $) Sum of gross value added by 119.3 368.52 662.52 1529.40 1432.23 9692.16
(GDPpc) producers in the economy
divided by the population.
CO2 Emission (metric tons per CO2 emissions per capita. 0.02 0.09 0.29 0.90 0.60 9.62
capita) (CO2pc)
Life Expectancy Index (LEI) The number of years a 0.33 0.47 0.53 0.53 0.60 0.69
newborn infant expected to
live.
Education Index (EI) Mean years of schooling index. 0.17 0.33 0.43 0.42 0.51 0.68
Corruption Perception Index. A measure corruption levels in 2.1 22 27 30.16 35 64
(COR) nations.

Where X symbolizes lnGDPpc, lnCO2pc, lnLEI, lnEI, and lnCOR as Congo Rep, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, and Togo
the vector of the explanatory variables for group i, and t denotes time missing up to 3 entries for the COR variable. To overcome missingness
period, 𝛿 ′𝑖𝑗 are coefficient vectors, whereas 𝜇𝑖 represents the fixed effects. and ensure a robust outcome for our model, we conducted the simple
The reparametrized model becomes Eq. (2) below. random imputation procedure that allows for unbiased parameter esti-
mates and accounts for increased variability due to missing values as
𝑝−1 𝑞−1
∑ ∑ described by Akintande et al. (2020).
Δ𝑅𝐸 𝐶𝑖𝑡 = 𝜙𝑖 (𝑅𝐸 𝐶𝑖, 𝑡−𝑗 − 𝛽 ′𝑖 𝑋𝑖𝑡 ) 𝛼 ∗ 𝑖𝑗 Δ𝑅𝐸 𝐶𝑖, 𝑡−𝑗 + 𝛿 ∗ ′𝑖𝑗 Δ𝑋𝑖,𝑡−𝑗 𝜇𝑖 + 𝜀𝑖𝑡
𝑗=1 𝑗=0

(2) 3.2. Unit root tests

Where 𝛽 ′𝑖 measures the long-run impact of the explanatory variables
on renewable energy consumption and 𝜙𝑖 is the error corrector mecha-
nism impact. The disturbances 𝜀𝑖𝑡 are independently distributed across
time and units, with zero mean and variance constant within each unit.
2.2. Estimation procedures
We adopted a balanced panel data set of 16 years (1998 to 2014)
and 23 countries (Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, DR Congo, Congo Rep,
Cote d’ Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania,
Togo, Uganda, Zambia and, Zimbabwe) primarily due to available data
for those countries in Transparency international database. The data
was obtained mainly from World Bank Data Indicators (WDI) except
education index (EI) and life expectancy index (LEI) that was drawn
from UNDP development reports and corruption perception index (COR)
that was drawn from transparency international database (Table 1)
(TI, 2018; UNDP, 2018; WDI, 2018). We standardized our variables by
obtaining their natural logarithmic forms to overcome heteroscedastic-
ity. The specification was then subjected to unit root test, cointegration
tests, and model estimation using the ARDL PMG method. The statistical
analysis tool STATA 15 software was used for the estimation procedures.
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive statistics
The descriptive statistics of some selected SSA countries are repre-
sented in Table 2. Interestingly, while DR Congo has the highest renew-
able energy consumption, it also has the lowest values for corruption
perception index. Whereas, Namibia has the lowest values in renew-
able energy consumption, and the highest corruption perception index.
Gabon has the greatest GDP per capita followed by Namibia, Cameroon,
Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia, and DR Congo, respectively. In terms
of the human development indexes (life expectancy index and education
index), Gabon and Namibia have the highest values, while also being the
highest CO2 emitters per capita. Some of the variables notably GDPpc
and COR were characterized by missing observations ranging from 1%
to 5% that is negligible. With countries such as Chad, Rwanda, Uganda
and missing only one entry each for the REC variable. While DR Congo,
As a first step of empirical analysis, we conducted unit root tests
to test for stationarity. We used the Im–Pesaran–Shin (IPS) test for as-
sumption of heterogeneous slopes and the Levin–Lin–Chu (LLC) test that
assumes the slopes are homogeneous, with the null hypothesis that all
the panels contain a unit root (da Silva et al., 2018). Whereas, we con-
ducted the cross-sectionally augmented Dickey–Fuller (CADF) test, a
second-generation panel unit root test that grounds its estimate on the
null hypothesis that all series are nonstationary (Pesaran et al., 2003;
Sarkodie and Adams, 2020). Most of the variables have unit roots in the
levels for both the IPS and LLC tests. However, the same tests in the
first difference, reveals stationarity, thus satisfying the panel ARDL re-
quirement that the variables should be I(0) or I(1) (Table 3). The CADF
test is somewhat consistent with the IPS and LLCs tests with only lnREC
and lnLEI containing unit roots at the level for both constant and con-
stant and trend solutions. At the first differences the null hypothesis that
unit roots can be rejected at 1% transforms both lnREC and lnLEI into
stationarity (Table 3). From the CADF test none of the variables in the
model are found to be I(2) which is a requirement for the ARDL method
(Table 4).
3.3. Cointegration tests
We conducted a cointegration test using by applying the Pedroni
test, and the Westerlund test as second-generation test. The pedroni test
statistics with the null hypothesis that there is no cointegration for all
units of the panel (Pedroni, 1999). Whereas, the Westerlund test imposes
fewer restrictions and has an alternate hypothesis that some panels are
cointegrated. The test statistic reported in Table 5 shows strong evidence
that all panels in the model are cointegrated. This result demonstrates
that the long-term estimates across all countries obtained from the PMG
method are stronger (Silva et al., 2018; Uzar, 2020a).
3.4. Model estimation (panel ARDL-PMG)
We determined the optimal lags before determining the short and
long relationships (Table 6). The error correction term has a value be-
tween −1 and 0 and is statistically significant at 5% level. This indicates
convergence of the level of balance in the long run (Uzar, 2020a). For the
long-term relationship out of the five explanatory variables tested four
are individually statistically significant at 99% confidence. These are

4
S. Oluoch, P. Lal and A. Susaeta Environmental Challenges 4 (2021) 100092

Table 2
Descriptive statistics for selected countries in SSA.

Variable Country Min 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max

REC Cameroon 77.39 78.60 84.38 82.14 84.99 86.13

DR Congo 92.87 96.84 97.04 96.83 97.88 98.34
Ethiopia 92.72 94.36 94.65 94.63 95.06 96.23
Gabon 68.26 69.67 69.67 72.91 75.08 82.14
Kenya 75.52 78.18 79.57 79.35 80.52 83.20
Malawi 76.47 79.62 80.36 80.30 81.43 82.71
Namibia 27.62 32.94 33.59 33.44 34.30 37.84
Zambia 87.76 89.33 89.76 89.94 90.46 92.81
GDPpc Cameroon 583.10 675.92 965.37 974.16 1191.71 1441.14
DR Congo 100.69 171.23 273.49 269.43 350.27 461.57
Ethiopia 111.53 124.05 194.08 258.89 355.60 571.16
Gabon 3821.81 4119.15 7206.97 7217.05 9.679.74 11530.1
Kenya 402.17 444.23 711.72 751.03 991.85 1,335.06
Malawi 149.37 265.43 304.90 310.56 382.68 525.65
Namibia 1716.9 2114.2 3884.65 3684.85 5143.13 5679.83
Zambia 330.22 376.98 1030.32 968.67 1456.13 1850.79
CO2pc Cameroon 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.26 0.31 0.36
DR Congo 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.07
Ethiopia 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.12
Gabon 2.77 2.86 2.96 3.28 3.55 4.24
Kenya 0.20 0.26 0.29 0.28 0.31 0.34
Malawi 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.08 0.09
Namibia 0.87 0.98 1.13 1.17 1.41 1.58
Zambia 0.14 0.18 0.18 0.20 0.20 0.29
LEI Cameroon 0.49 0.49 0.50 0.51 0.52 0.55
DR Congo 0.46 0.48 0.53 0.53 0.57 0.60
Ethiopia 0.48 0.52 0.58 0.57 0.64 0.68
Gabon 0.61 0.61 0.62 0.63 0.65 0.68
Kenya 0.47 0.50 0.53 0.55 0.60 0.64
Malawi 0.37 0.40 0.46 0.48 0.57 0.66
Namibia 0.54 0.55 0.57 0.60 0.66 0.69
Zambia 0.46 0.49 0.52 0.52 0.56 0.58
EI Cameroon 0.35 0.38 0.41 0.42 0.45 0.49
DR Congo 0.46 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.42 0.46
Ethiopia 0.14 0.20 0.26 0.25 0.31 0.32
Gabon 0.53 0.56 0.58 0.58 0.60 0.62
Kenya 0.40 0.43 0.47 0.47 0.51 0.52
Malawi 0.38 0.38 0.39 0.40 0.44 0.45
Namibia 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.52 0.53 0.55
Zambia 0.46 0.49 0.52 0.52 0.56 0.58
COR Cameroon 14 20 22 21.71 24 27
DR Congo 14 17 19 18.82 20 22
Ethiopia 22 25 27 28.47 33 35
Gabon 28 30 34 37.12 41 57
Kenya 19 21 21 22 22 27
Malawi 27 28 32 32.59 37 41
Namibia 41 44 47 47.71 53 57
Zambia 25 26 30 30.47 35 38

Table 3
IPS and LLC panel unit roots tests results.

Variable IPS LLC

Level 1st diff Level 1st diff

lnREC 1.625 −4.970 −0.563 −5.015

[0.948] [0.000] [0.287] [0.000]
lnGDPpc 3.421 −7.818 −1.643 −9.608
[0.999] [0.000] [0.050] [0.000]
lnCO2pc 1.088 −6.625 −1.6025 −7.790
[0.862] [0.000] [0.0545] [0.000]
lnLEI 1.488 −9.239 −5.672 −12.877
[0.9317] [0.000] [0.000] [0.000]
lnEI 1.363 −2.754 −6.355 −3.561
[0.914] [0.003] [0.000] [0.000]
lnCOR −1.760 −8.154 −3.583 −12.224
[0.039] [0.000] [0.000] [0.000]
p-values in the squared parentheses.

5
S. Oluoch, P. Lal and A. Susaeta Environmental Challenges 4 (2021) 100092

Table 4 Cameroon, Chad, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique,

CADF panel unit root test results. Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The impact
Type of test Constant of Life expectancy index on renewable energy is positive and significant
for DR Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia while negative and
t-bar Z[t-bar] p-value
significant for Botswana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Rwanda. The re-
lnREC Level −1.846 −0.500 0.309 lationship between lnEI and renewable energy consumption reveals a
1st diff −2.626 −4.163 0.000
positive effect in Gabon and Ethiopia, and a negative one in Botswana,
lnGDPpc Level −3.331 −7.479 0.000
1st diff −3.332 −7.486 0.000 Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, and Zambia. For lnCOR,
lnCO2pc Level −2.108 −1.728 0.042 the relationship is positive for Gabon and Namibia, and negative for
1st diff −2.582 −3.960 0.000 Cameroon, Congo Rep, Malawi, and Tanzania. From this outcome it is
lnLEI Level −1.871 −0.616 0.269 important to note that few countries such as Gabon, Ethiopia and Kenya
1st diff −2.081 −1.605 0.054
exhibit interesting trends that will result in an overall increase in renew-
lnEI Level −2.266 −2.473 0.007
1st diff −2.457 −3.369 0.000 able energy consumption.
lnCOR Level −2.165 −2.000 0.023
1st diff −3.138 −6.571 0.000 4. Discussion
Constant and trend
lnREC Level −2.339 −0.234 0.407
1st diff −2.906 −2.923 0.002 Greater levels of income are associated with an ability to bear high
lnGDPpc Level −3.381 −5.182 0.000 regulatory costs in terms of taxes and tariffs for power (da Silva et al.,
1st diff −3.209 −4.365 0.000 2018). An increase in energy has shown to be a positive driver for
lnCO2pc Level −2.135 0.738 0.770 economic growth (da Silva et al., 2018; Inglesi-Lotz, 2016; Salim and
1st diff −2.581 −1.381 0.084
lnLEI Level −2.346 −0.266 0.395
Rafiq, 2012). For the long run estimates, the lnGDPpc coefficient was
1st diff −4.781 −11.830 0.000 positive and significant at 1% level. With a one unit increase in lnGDPpc
lnEI Level −1.895 1.873 0.969 enhancing renewable energy consumption by 0.037 units. The short
1st diff −3.521 −5.844 0.000 run relationship has a different outcome as all SSA countries with sta-
lnCOR Level −3.294 −4.769 0.000
tistically significant lnGDPpc coefficients were also negative. Studies
1st diff −2.998 −3.364 0.000
such as Kilinc-Ata (2016) found that income measures such as GDP per
capita will show positive effect on renewable energy consumption for
Table 5 developed countries, but not for developing countries. Correspondingly,
Pedroni and Westerlund cointegration test results. Nyiwul (2017) established that SSA expanding renewable energy con-
Statistic p-value sumption was not strongly related to economic growth. Uzar (2020a) ad-
mitted that the relationship between renewable energy consumption
Modified Philips–Perron t 4.287 0.000
Philips–Perron t −7.885 0.000
and income can be ambiguous, after finding a negative relationship
Augmented dickey −7.164 0.000 between GDP per capita and renewable energy that was not signifi-
Westerlund test −2.379 0.008 cant. As increasing energy needs can be met from different sources,
thereby increasing demand for renewable energy, or increasing demand
Table 6
for cheaper fossil fuels (Uzar, 2020a).
PMG estimation results (1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1). On the contrary, Ackah and Kizys (2015), Asafu-Adjaye (2000),
Sardosky (2009) and Shahbaz et al. (2015) studies in SSA found that
Variable Coefficient Std. error z-statistic p-value GDP per capita has a positive and significant effect on the renewable
Long run energy consumption. The negative value for the short run relationships
lnGDPpc 0.038 0.006 6.41 0.000 in our study can be attributed to low-income levels among SSA resi-
lnCO2pc −0.123 0.008 −14.03 0.000 dents especially in rural settlements (76% of total population), mak-
lnLEI −0.397 0.073 −5.40 0.000
lnEI 0.111 0.028 3.91 0.000
ing it difficult for governments to distribute electricity (Nyiwul, 2017;
lnCOR 0.004 0.007 0.56 0.577 Kilinc-Ata, 2016). This is coupled to the high cost and unreliable supply
Short run of electricity resulting in losses of up to 2–4% of GDP for most coun-
ECT −0.269 0.105 −2.56 0.011 tries in SSA (APP, 2015). This has made electricity unaffordable to SSA
lnGDPpc −0.064 0.038 −1.71 0.088
residents, which in turn has stifled revenue for existing and new renew-
LnCO2pc −0.071 0.025 −2.81 0.005
lnLEI 0.189 0.678 0.28 0.781 able energy projects (APP, 2015; Wesseh and Lin, 2016). Furthermore,
lnEI −0.630 0.997 −0.63 0.528 the lack of economies of scale for existing renewable energy plants has
lnCOR −0.029 0.049 −0.60 0.546 made many projects non-viable in the long term (APP, 2015). The re-
Constant 0.976 0.401 2.43 0.015 lationship between limited power generation and low income is cyclic,
translating energy inequality to slow economic growth and investments
(APP, 2015).
InGDPpc and lnEI with positive coefficients, while lnCO2pc and lnLEI Renewable energy should result in a decreased cost of power es-
have negative coefficients. In the short run relationship out of the 5 pecially after the projects have been commissioned and a return on
explanatory variables tested only InGDPpc and lnCO2pc are negative investment is realized. However, renewables are still more expensive
and statistically significant. Since some variables in some countries were than fossil fuels, due to long-term subsidies for fossil fuels in SSA
heterogenous it was necessary to conduct a full PMG test for short run (Adedoyin et al., 2021; Asongu et al., 2019; Wesseh and Lin, 2016). As
relationships (Table 7). a result, incentives such as feed-in tariffs should be instituted to ensure
Table 7 lists country specific short-term relationships estimated us- bulk production at a fix price to attract investment and reduce price for
ing the full PMG. The effect of lnGDPpc on renewable energy con- consumers (Wesseh and Lin, 2016). Renewable energy can also stimu-
sumption is negative and statistically significant in Chad, Congo Rep, late economies and boost income by creating employment opportuni-
Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, and Zambia. However, ties both directly and indirectly. Direct opportunities involve employ-
only Namibia exhibits a positive and statistically significant coefficient ment in provision of labor services to renewable energy power plants
of renewable consumption. The relationship between CO2 emissions and through day to day operations that require manpower. Indirect employ-
renewable energy consumption is negative and significant in Botswana, ment opportunities can arise from the provision of electricity and auxil-

6
S. Oluoch, P. Lal and A. Susaeta Environmental Challenges 4 (2021) 100092

Table 7
Full Short-run PMG estimates for selected countries.

Country Variable Coeff Country Variable Coeff

Cameroon ECT 0.001(0.020) Kenya ECT −0.263(0.085)∗ ∗

lnGDPpc 0.022(0.018) lnGDPpc −0.073(0.036)∗ ∗
lnCO2pc −0.123(0.011)∗ ∗ ∗ lnCO2pc −0.111(0.021)∗ ∗ ∗
lnLEI −0.268(0.493) lnLEI 1.067(0.388)∗ ∗
lnEI −0.729(0.188)∗ ∗ ∗ lnEI −3.192(0.835)∗ ∗ ∗
lnCOR −0.042(0.014)∗ ∗ lnCOR −0.001(0.027)
DR Congo ECT 0.002 (0.104) Malawi ECT −0.003(0.005)
lnGDPpc −0.001 (0.002) lnGDPpc −0.026(0.009)∗
lnCO2pc −0.034(0.003)∗ ∗ ∗ lnCO2pc −0.222(0.022)∗ ∗ ∗
lnLEI 0.544(0.129)∗ ∗ ∗ lnLEI 1.035(0.236)∗ ∗ ∗
lnEI −0.011(0.070) lnEI −0.896(0.264)∗ ∗ ∗
lnCOR −0.006(0.11) lnCOR −0.073(0.20)∗ ∗ ∗
Ethiopia ECT −0.015(0.005)∗ ∗ Namibia ECT −0.195(0.084)∗ ∗
lnGDPpc 0.002(0.003) lnGDPpc 0.378(0.128)∗ ∗
lnCO2pc −0.034(0.004)∗ ∗ ∗ lnCO2pc −0.079(0.066)
lnLEI −0.359(0.111)∗ ∗ ∗ lnLEI 0.404(0.800)
lnEI 0.091(0.032)∗ ∗ lnEI −0.356(3.335)
lnCOR −0.002(0.003) lnCOR 0.723(0.232) ∗ ∗
Gabon ECT 0.499(0.110)∗ ∗ ∗ Zambia ECT −0.009(0.006)∗
lnGDPpc 0.015(0.035) lnGDPpc −0.014(0.008)∗
lnCO2pc 0.002(0.085) lnCO2pc −0.092(0.012)∗ ∗ ∗
lnLEI 6.428(1.262)∗ ∗ ∗ lnLEI 0.818(0.171)∗ ∗ ∗
lnEI 17.638(1.792)∗ ∗ ∗ lnEI −2.240(0.507)∗ ∗ ∗
lnCOR 0.136(0.076)∗ lnCOR 0.024(0.018)
∗∗∗ ∗∗
, , and ∗ show statistically significance at 1%, 5%, and 10% level, respectively.

iary infrastructure, such as roads networks, and maintenance of power
grids (Ackah and Kizys, 2015). Electricity access due to renewable en-
ergy projects also open new markets in remote areas stimulating the
economy by providing self-employment opportunities (Nyiwul, 2017).
Policies that encourage deployment of off-grid renewables especially in
remote areas will stimulate the job sector in SSA.
From our results, renewable energy consumption was statistically
significant and correlated negatively with CO2 emissions per capita,
with one-unit change of lnCO2pc resulting in a decrease in 0.123 units
of renewable energy consumption in the long run estimates. Corre-
spondingly, for the short run estimates all 14 SSA countries that had
statistically significant relationships was negative. This was the ex-
pected outcome and was consistent with the results from studies by
Sardosky (2009), Ackah and Kizys (2015), and Marques et al. (2010),
which modeled the effect of CO2 emissions on renewable energy. In-
terestingly, Silva et al. (2018) observed that the Kyoto protocol place
less pressure on developing countries and could be interpreted to mean
that SSA should not care about CO2 emissions on account of their devel-
opment agenda. This was revised in the Paris climate deal where SSA
countries on their part must make a commitment to raise $3 million
per year and ensure transparency in the prospective funding for climate
change mitigation (Africa Renewal, 2016).
Contrary results from Apergis et al. (2018) suggested that a major-
ity of SSA countries may not have achieved the required level of GDP
per capita that allows for reduced carbon emission levels. Studies by
Uzar (2020a) while explaining the grounds for the long run positive re-
lationship between CO2 emissions and renewable energy consumption
argue that the threat of increasing CO2 levels has motivated the use
of renewable energy. Commitments from developed countries to help
developing countries mitigate the impact of climate change through in-
ternational agreements such as the Kyoto protocol and Paris climate
deal (Uzar, 2020a). For example, developing countries are set to ben-
efit from carbon markets that support mitigation and adaptation activ-
ities to the tune of US $100 billion per year (Africa Renewal, 2016;
Gujba et al., 2012). Despite this development, SSA benefits from only
2.6% of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects (Gujba et al.,
2012; Kreibich et al., 2017). Even so, SSA on their part should strive at
instituting policy measures that ensure renewable energy projects meet
the stringent requirement of CDMs (Gujba et al., 2012; Kreibich et al.,
2017). This can be accomplished by training local investors on how to
benefit from CDM credits and encouraging associations that aim at re-
ducing costs by joint procurement and marketing of finished products
(e.g. in biofuels) (ENDEV, 2016; Gujba et al., 2012). Furthermore, in-
troduction of carbon cap and trading system and renewable energy cer-
tificates should be promoted to increase the share of renewable energy
and efficiency of the energy sector (Pozlin et al., 2015). This will fur-
ther enhance consumer participation in the energy market and provide
much needed capital for further investments.
Renewable energy consumption should result in relief on forest re-
sources that are mainly used in providing traditional fuel in rural ar-
eas. Further, investments in renewable energy (especially wind, solar,
hydroelectric, and modern biomass such as biofuels and biogas) will re-
sult in a shift in the use of traditional biomass such as firewood and
charcoal that will relieve pressure on forests, thereby providing car-
bon offsets (Marques et al., 2010; Sardosky, 2009). Unsustainable use
of traditional biomass for more than 75% of the household energy bal-
ance has resulted in environmental degradation of forestry resources
(ENDEV, 2016; Mohammed et al., 2013). This has presented challenges
for biomass development in SSA, resulting in the need for a new image
of biomass energy (Owen et al., 2013). Currently, biomass for electric-
ity production and as the source of transportation fuel has been un-
derutilized in SSA (da Silva et al., 2018). Solutions lie in moderniza-
tion of production, processing, distribution, and consumption of biofuels
(Owen et al., 2013). In-order to achieve these goals, policy measures
should include dissemination of information, streamlining regional
policy and standardization of biofuels, and strengthening of regional
economies (Marques et al., 2010; Owen et al., 2013). Promoting the
growth of non-food feedstocks such as jatropha, napier grass, rubber
seed oil, castor oil and switch grass, which thrive on marginal land can
further protect environmental degradation and reclaim deforested envi-
ronments (Apergis et al., 2018).
Human Development Index (HDI) is quantitative composite measure
of human development for the countries well-being (UNDP 2018). HDI
computes GDP per capita as a measure of quality of life, life expectancy
as a measure of health care and literacy rates as a measure of education
(Owen et al., 2013). For this study, we separately used the two compo-
nents of HDI, that are education index (EI) computing school enrollment
and literacy rates as a measure of education, and life expectancy index

7
S. Oluoch, P. Lal and A. Susaeta
(LEI) a measure of the time an individual is expected to live in a given
demographic setting (Anglina et al., 2016; Mohammed et al., 2013;
Mohammed et al., 2015). Renewable energy consumption was statisti-
cally significant and positively correlated to EI in the long run, with one-
unit change in EI resulting in 0.111-unit rise in renewable energy con-
sumption. Only Ethiopia and Gabon show a positive and statistically sig-
nificant relationship in the short run. Studies by Ergun et al. (2019) show
that SSA countries with higher HDI have a lower share of renewables in
the national grid. It is apparent that renewable energy has the potential
to increase education indexes in SSA but has been underutilized espe-
cially in countries that demonstrate higher HDIs. Measures that need to
be taken include using education as a medium through which renewable
energy consumption can be increased, through media that highlight the
potential contribution of renewable energy to sustainable development
and poverty alleviation especially in remote areas (Owen et al., 2013).
Furthermore, the education curriculums should include renewable en-
ergy and energy conservation subjects’ in-order to promote knowledge
and awareness (APP, 2015). Direct benefits of renewable energy to the
education sector can be enhanced through introduction of solar panels
and solar lanterns for schools in the remote areas (APP, 2015).
Life expectancy index was statistically significant in the long run and
negatively correlated to renewable energy consumption, with one-unit
change in lnLEI resulting in 0.397 unit change in renewable energy con-
sumption. On the other hand, in the short run lnLEI in Gabon, Kenya,
Malawi and Zambia, had a positive relationship with renewable energy
consumption. It should be apparent that an increased investment in re-
newable energy technologies should result in an increase in energy ac-
cess and promote greater human development. Countries with greater
life expectancy also show a greater willingness to invest in environmen-
tal quality (Charfeddine and Mrabet, 2017; Pirologea, 2012). However,
a counter argument is that in countries with high life expectancy, the
willingness to accumulate more physical and human capital increases re-
sulting in increased environmental degradation (Charfeddine and Mra-
bet, 2017). Pirlogea (2012) investigated energy consumption and hu-
man development in developing countries and found that high values
of HDI corresponded to greater energy consumption patterns. Clean
and reliable energy influences the determinants of human development
such as education, health, environmental safety, and gender equality
(Pirlogea, 2012). Apergis et al. (2018) further asserts that renewable
energy can play a role in improving healthcare by reducing air pollu-
tion levels and saving cost in health care expenditures by reducing fos-
sil energy bills through solar installations at health facilities to assist in
running rural hospital equipment and lighting.
We expected that renewable energy consumption should result in a
positive increase in corruption perception index, as was the case in stud-
ies by Vasylieva et al. (2019) investigated the impact on renewable en-
ergy consumption on GDP and Corruption in European Union countries
from 2000 to 2016. Correspondingly, Uzar (2020a) while investigating
the impact of income inequality on renewable energy consumption for
43 developed and developing countries, found that corruption control
a proxy for institutional factors, positively affected renewable energy
consumption. While this outcome may hold for developed countries,
our results show that the relationship between lnCOR, and renewable
energy is positive but not statistically significant in the long run for
SSA countries. In the short run Cameroon, Congo Rep, Cote d’ Ivoire,
Malawi and Tanzania had a negative relationship between InCOR and
renewable energy, while only Gabon and Namibia that had a positive
relationship between corruption perception index and renewable energy
consumption. Corruption can affect renewable energy consumption by
translating to ineffective implementation of government programs that
may divert scarcely available resources to be invested in renewable en-
ergy technologies. Studies by Zhang et al. (2016) reveal that corruption
has a negative effect on CO2 emissions in lower emission countries but
insignificant in higher emission countries and may have a positive in-
direct effect mainly through its effect on GDP per capita. Other studies
involving corruption perception index with economic growth revealed
8
Environmental Challenges 4 (2021) 100092
a negative effect on the provision of public goods (Aparicio et al., 2016;
Bosco, 2016; Van Soest et al., 2016).
The control of corruption generated a positive impact on eco-
nomic growth and prevented loosening of environmental policies
(Aparico et al., 2016; Bosco, 2016; Van Soest et al., 2016; Uzar 2020a).
Dogmus and Nielsen (2020) case study of corruption in the hydropower
sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina a transitional developing country, fur-
ther reveals how bureaucratic process in procurement, tendering and
managing hydropower projects has created a safe space for corrupt ac-
tors (both government and private sector), that has resulted in unfin-
ished projects. Correspondingly, management of power utilities remains
the focal point of the SSA energy crisis, mainly because utilities are
mainly used for political patronage and vehicles of corruption especially
in centralized government settings (APP, 2015; Mukasa et al., 2015).
Currently, many SSA power utilities recover only two thirds equivalent
to 0.56% of SSA’s GDP of revenue required for sustainable operations,
resulting in cutbacks often disrupting the quality of service to existing
customers (APP, 2015; Eberhard and Shkaratan, 2012). For example,
the DR Congo has only 9% of the population with access to electricity is
an example of co-existence of great hydropower potential with extreme
energy poverty (APP, 2015). There needs to be key reforms in the energy
sector that goes hand in hand with long-term national interest having
priority over short term political gain, vested interests, corruption, and
political patronage (APP, 2015). These reforms could be in the form of
privatization of utilities and additional oversight by the public and an
improved process of transparency, in terms of documentation of pro-
cesses that are open to further scrutiny through auditing mechanisms
(Dogmus and Nielsen, 2020).
5. Conclusions
Overall, by considering the specification and scenario analysis con-
ducted in the study, we found significant and substantive influence of
renewable energy consumption on social, economic, and environmental
factors. In other words, renewable energy consumption plays a vital role
in increasing GDP per capita, and education index, whereas it reduces
carbon emissions, cost of living and life expectancy index in the long
run. Our results suggest that SSA governments must encourage invest-
ments in renewable energy to promote economic growth that is sustain-
able and environmentally friendly to reduce carbon emissions. Existing
policies in SSA countries support fossil fuels often resulting in market
failure for renewables. With higher costs of renewables, long payback
periods and illiquid assets making renewables unattractive for investors
(Pozlin et al., 2015). Consequently, SSA governments have a role in pro-
viding tax breaks, grants, and subsidies to support renewables. Further-
more, introduction of government loans to private investors and local
authorities; loans and grants from international partners can assist both
government and private sector in financing renewable energy projects.
Involvement of institutional investors such as banks, cooperatives, in-
vestment funds and insurance companies can further provide innovative
solutions for small grid renewables, stimulating local economic growth
in rural settlements, reducing the cost of energy, and providing access
to energy. For example, a pay-per-use solar scheme in Kenya facilitat-
ing small loans through mobile telecommunications company to rural
residents for purchasing solar panels ensures participation of the final
consumer in the energy market (Dahir et al., 2018).
Privatization measures of the energy market in state-controlled util-
ities will go hand in hand in promoting the much-needed efficiency and
providing accountability. Regional integration policies should encour-
age trade between neighboring countries that have energy surpluses, to
enhance economic scale for supporting the viability of capital-intensive
projects, stimulate economies and boost income. Stability and account-
ability in supporting institutions in energy markets can attract further
investments in renewables. Management of public utilities requires good
governance to provide a facilitative environment for implementation of
renewable energy projects. Implementation of best practices can be en-
S. Oluoch, P. Lal and A. Susaeta
hanced by promoting private-public partnerships that allow for market-
based profit driven set ups that encourage accountability and reliable
services to consumers. Instruments such as Feed in Tariffs (FiTs) and
introduction of auction for renewable energy permits depending on the
energy type and policy arrangement can facilitate and streamline a com-
petitive wholesale market structure for the renewable energy sector
(Kazimierczuk, 2019).
Given the vast distribution of renewable potential in SSA, policies
should be tailored to be specific for effective outcomes for renewable
energy development. Particularly, policies should provide economic in-
centives and subsidies that are geared towards making renewable en-
ergy cost more competitive to traditional fossil fuels. SSA governments
should move with urgency to remove bottlenecks that curtail integra-
tion of renewable energy into the national grid, by waiving taxes for
renewable energy projects in regions that have great resource potential
to encourage renewable energy investments. To unlock SSAs untapped
renewable energy potential there must be long term policy commitment
(strategic planning) that is a well-structured and efficient.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
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