Rapid Urbanization and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Africa

Abstract

Africa continues to experience rapid growth in population and density which increased the amount of fossils fuels use. Fossil fuels produce large quantity of carbon dioxide and lead to climate change. This study examines the effects of urbanization, energy consumption on carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) in Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA). The study used panel cointegration, vector error correction model (VECM), fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS). The empirical finding from cointegration test reveals that there exists a long run cointegrating relationship between energy consumption, urbanization and carbon dioxide emissions. The results based on Granger causality test indicate that energy
consumptions and urbanization granger cause carbon dioxide emissions. The results from FMOLS and DOLS confirmed that energy consumptions and urbanization increase carbon dioxide emissions in the sample countries. This indicates that energy consumption (fossil fuel energy) and urbanization are among the major determinant of CO2 emissions. Therefore, there is a need to have a policy that would help enhance the use of green energy to reduce the environmental damage.