Impact of Economic Growth, Energy Use and Population Growth on Carbon Emissions in Sub-Sahara Africa

The study examines the impact of economic growth, energy use and population growth on carbon emissions in sub Saharan Africa: Kenya, Nigeria, Botswana, Benin, Togo and Mauritius for the period of 1990-2014. The study employed unit root test, co-integration test, VECM (Vector Error Correction Model) and FMOLS (Fully Modified Ordinary Least-Square) as methodologies to model the causality and linear relationships amongst the variables. The VECM was used to identify the long-run causality and asymptotic convergence among the variables. The results reveal that an increase in energy use and population growth by 1% would cause an increase in CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide) concentration by 0.08% and 0.22% correspondingly, whereas in the long-run 1% increase of energy use increases economic output by 0.09%. As the economy grows without contributing to carbon emissions, governments should invest more in renewable energy. Governments should also come up with policies to regulate population growth and fossil energy use.