Exploring the nexus between natural resource depletion, renewable energy use, and environmental degradation in sub-Saharan Africa

This study explores the nexus between natural resource depletion, renewable energy use, and environmental degradation in 48 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from the period 2000 to 2020 using generalized panel quantile regression. The findings show that, at 90th quantiles the magnitude of natural resource depletion is positive and stronger associated with environmental degradation in SSA. This is probably attributed by countries with higher natural resource depletion such as Congo Republic (37.10%), Equatorial Guinea (27.60%), Angola (21.14%), Gabon (12.84%), Chad (12.19%), Burundi (8.92%), Uganda (6.16%), and Congo Democratic (5.24%). Furthermore, at lower quantiles (30th and 10th), natural resource depletion negatively affects environmental degradation in SSA. This might be attributed by countries with negligible natural resource depletion like Carbo Verde (0.16%), Central African Republic (0.04%), Comoros (1.17%), Eswatini (0.01%), Gambia (0.92%), Guinea-Bissau (0.33%), and Madagascar (0.07%). Moreover, the findings show that renewable energy use reduces environmental degradation and is statistically significant at almost all quantiles. Finally, the findings reveal that industrialization, trade, and economic growth all contribute to environmental degradation (i.e. carbon emissions) in SSA. The policy implication is to adopt measures that reduce poverty, which is linked to natural resource depletion, and scale up renewable energy use technologies for SSA. Policymakers should develop strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and enable better use of natural resources by enforcing environmental laws. Concurrently, we propose natural resource management to be multi-sectoral and integrated into institutional structures by allocating funds to the natural resources sector for intervention programs in SSA countries.