IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i14p6166-d1438141.html

The Role of Green Innovation, Renewable Energy, and Institutional Quality in Promoting Green Growth: Evidence from African Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Derese Kebede Teklie

    (Department of Economics, School of Management, Istanbul Technical University, Maçka, 34367 İstanbul, Türkiye)

  • Mete Han Yağmur

    (Department of Economics, School of Management, Istanbul Technical University, Maçka, 34367 İstanbul, Türkiye)

Abstract

Green growth exhibits an immense potential to transform economies and safeguard the planet as it creates a symbiotic relationship between economic progress and environmental protection. This study examines the impact of green innovation, renewable energy consumption, and institutional quality on green growth in African countries, controlling for GDP per capita, trade openness, foreign direct investment (FDI), population, and natural resource rent. The short- and long-run relationships are investigated using pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effects (DFE) models with panel data for 49 African countries from 2000 to 2021. The findings reveal that green innovation, renewable energy consumption, institutional quality, GDP per capita, trade openness, and population growth have positive long-run effects on green growth. In contrast, FDI and natural resource depletion have adverse effects. In the short run, only institutional quality and GDP per capita positively affect green growth, while natural resource rent has a negative impact. Considering these findings, this study recommends that policymakers in Africa promote green innovation and adopt energy-efficient technologies, increase the use of renewable energy resources, and improve institutional quality to achieve green growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Derese Kebede Teklie & Mete Han Yağmur, 2024. "The Role of Green Innovation, Renewable Energy, and Institutional Quality in Promoting Green Growth: Evidence from African Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-23, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:14:p:6166-:d:1438141
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/14/6166/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/14/6166/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Degbedji, Dado Fabrice & Akpa, Armand Fréjuis & Chabossou, Augustin Foster & Osabohien, Romanus, 2024. "Institutional quality and green economic growth in West African economic and monetary union," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 3(1).
    2. Menegaki, Angeliki N., 2011. "Growth and renewable energy in Europe: A random effect model with evidence for neutrality hypothesis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 257-263, March.
    3. Zhang, Mingming & Zhang, Shichang & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Zhou, Dequn, 2021. "Effects of trade openness on renewable energy consumption in OECD countries: New insights from panel smooth transition regression modelling," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    4. Ying Li & Siyu Li & Wei Zhang, 2021. "The Influence Study on Environmental Regulation and Green Total Factor Productivity of China’s Manufacturing Industry," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Hindawi, vol. 2021, pages 1-15, April.
    5. Tan, Yan & Uprasen, Utai, 2022. "The effect of foreign direct investment on renewable energy consumption subject to the moderating effect of environmental regulation: Evidence from the BRICS countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P2), pages 135-149.
    6. Dumitrescu, Elena-Ivona & Hurlin, Christophe, 2012. "Testing for Granger non-causality in heterogeneous panels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1450-1460.
    7. Joakim Westerlund, 2007. "Testing for Error Correction in Panel Data," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(6), pages 709-748, December.
    8. Tiancai Xing & Qichuan Jiang & Xuejiao Ma, 2017. "To Facilitate or Curb? The Role of Financial Development in China’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Process: A Novel Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-39, October.
    9. Andrea Asoni, 2008. "Protection Of Property Rights And Growth As Political Equilibria," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 953-987, December.
    10. Cristina I. Fernandes & Pedro Mota Veiga & João J.M. Ferreira & Mathew Hughes, 2021. "Green growth versus economic growth: Do sustainable technology transfer and innovations lead to an imperfect choice?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 2021-2037, May.
    11. Chang, Juin-Jen & Wang, Wei-Neng & Shieh, Jhy-Yuan, 2018. "Environmental rebounds/backfires: Macroeconomic implications for the promotion of environmentally-friendly products," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 35-68.
    12. Bangake, Chrysost & Eggoh, Jude C., 2012. "Pooled Mean Group estimation on international capital mobility in African countries," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 7-17.
    13. Ching-Hsun Chang, 2011. "The Influence of Corporate Environmental Ethics on Competitive Advantage: The Mediation Role of Green Innovation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 361-370, December.
    14. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Song, Malin & Ahmad, Shabbir & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Does economic growth stimulate energy consumption? The role of human capital and R&D expenditures in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    15. Hashem Pesaran, M. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2008. "Testing slope homogeneity in large panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 50-93, January.
    16. Daron Acemoglu & Ufuk Akcigit & Douglas Hanley & William Kerr, 2016. "Transition to Clean Technology," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 52-104.
    17. Ofori, Isaac K. & Gbolonyo, Emmanuel Y. & Ojong, Nathanael, 2023. "Foreign direct investment and inclusive green growth in Africa: Energy efficiency contingencies and thresholds," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    18. Miguel Angel Esquivias & Lilik Sugiharti & Hilda Rohmawati & Omar Rojas & Narayan Sethi, 2022. "Nexus between Technological Innovation, Renewable Energy, and Human Capital on the Environmental Sustainability in Emerging Asian Economies: A Panel Quantile Regression Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-16, March.
    19. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    20. Kar, Sabyasachi & Roy, Amrita & Sen, Kunal, 2019. "The double trap: Institutions and economic development," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 243-259.
    21. Asoni, Andrea, 2008. "Protection of Property Rights and Growth as Political Equilibria," Working Paper Series 737, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    22. Paul M. Romer, 1994. "The Origins of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 3-22, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mustafa Naimoğlu & Serkan Şahin & Sefa Özbek, 2025. "Governance, Corruption, Trade Openness, and Innovation: Key Drivers of Green Growth and Sustainable Development in Türkiye," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 4147-4162, June.
    2. Shang Chen & Yuanhe Du & Yeye Liu, 2025. "Regional Integration and Urban Green and Low-Carbon Development: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the Expansion of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-34, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ahmad, Mahmood & Ahmed, Zahoor & Khan, Sana Akbar & Alvarado, Rafael, 2023. "Towards environmental sustainability in E−7 countries: Assessing the roles of natural resources, economic growth, country risk, and energy transition," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Elvis K. Ofori & Simplice A. Asongu & Ernest B. Ali & Bright A. Gyamfi & Isaac Ahakwa, 2024. "Environmental impact of ISO 14001 certification in promoting Sustainable development: The moderating role of innovation and structural change in BRICS and MINT, and G7 economies," Journal of Africa SEER Centre(ASC) 24/021, Africa SEER Centre(ASC).
    3. Wolde-Rufael, Yemane & Mulat-Weldemeskel, Eyob, 2023. "Is natural capital a blessing or a curse for capital accumulation in low income countries?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    4. Clement Olalekan Olaniyi & Nicholas Mbaya Odhiambo, 2025. "Do natural resource rents aid renewable energy transition in resource‐rich African countries? The roles of institutional quality and its threshold," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(2), pages 1330-1375, May.
    5. Aamir Javed & Bilal Haider Subhani & Asif Javed & Agnese Rapposelli, 2024. "Accessing the efficacy of green growth, energy efficiency, and green innovation for environmental performance in top manufacturing nations in the framework of sustainable development," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(6), pages 5829-5863, December.
    6. Md Qamruzzaman & Nusrat Farzana & Piana Monsur Mindia, 2024. "Unveiling the Path to Environmental Sustainability through Energy Efficiency, Environmental Innovation, and Institutional Quality in Southeast Asian Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(6), pages 322-343, November.
    7. Wang, Mengxia & Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Si Mohammed, Kamel & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Cai, Xiaotong, 2023. "Heterogenous Effects of Circular Economy, Green energy and Globalization on CO2 emissions: Policy based analysis for sustainable development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 789-801.
    8. Dao, Ngoc Bich & Truong, Huong Hoang Diep & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Chu, Lan Khanh, 2024. "The impacts of natural resources rents diversification, uncertainty, and environmental technologies on ecological sustainability: Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Chulan Lasantha Kukule Nawarathna, 2025. "The Nexus Between Female Labor Force Participation and Economic Development: A Global Study Across the Phases of Demographic Dividends," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(15), pages 426-449, April.
    10. Chukwuemeka Chinonso Emenekwe & Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke & Chinedum Uzoma Nwajiuba & Ifeoma Quinette Anugwa & Obioma Uchenna Emenekwe, 2025. "Determinants of consumption-based and production-based carbon emissions," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 10303-10339, May.
    11. Hassan, Hassan & Tian, Shanwu & Safi, Adnan & Umar, Muhammad, 2024. "Climate commitments and financial moderation: A deep dive into renewable energy's influence on OECD carbon footprints," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1484-1495.
    12. Aladejare, Samson Adeniyi, 2022. "Natural resource rents, globalisation and environmental degradation: New insight from 5 richest African economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Chen, Liang & Guo, Yirong, 2023. "The drivers of sustainable development: Natural resources extraction and education for low-middle- and high-income countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    14. Murshed, Muntasir & Saboori, Behnaz & Madaleno, Mara & Wang, Hong & Doğan, Buhari, 2022. "Exploring the nexuses between nuclear energy, renewable energy, and carbon dioxide emissions: The role of economic complexity in the G7 countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 664-674.
    15. Li, Menghan & Zhang, Kaiyue & Alamri, Ahmad Mohammed & Ageli, Mohammed Moosa & Khan, Numan, 2023. "Resource curse hypothesis and sustainable development: Evaluating the role of renewable energy and R&D," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Li, Tianyu & Yue, Xiao-Guang & Waheed, Humayun & Yıldırım, Bilal, 2023. "Can energy efficiency and natural resources foster economic growth? Evidence from BRICS countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    17. Liu, Haiying & Saleem, Muhammad Mansoor & Al-Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh & Khan, Irfan & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif, 2022. "Impact of governance and globalization on natural resources volatility: The role of financial development in the Middle East North Africa countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Sampene, Agyemang Kwasi & Li, Cai & Wiredu, John, 2024. "An outlook at the switch to renewable energy in emerging economies: The beneficial effect of technological innovation and green finance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    19. Li, Xuelin & Yang, Lin, 2023. "Natural resources, remittances and carbon emissions: A Dutch Disease perspective with remittances for South Asia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    20. Ya, Du & Quddus, Abdul & Feng, Minhong & Ullah, Ehsan & Ameer, Waqar, 2024. "Assessing the impact of fiscal policy and natural resources on environmental degradation in BRICS countries: A resource management perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:14:p:6166-:d:1438141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.