The rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on the African continent has been an issue of concern. Consequently, this study analyses the mitigating role of renewable energy and mobile technology in the effect of industrial sector growth on carbon dioxide emissions. Using data from 32 African countries for the period 2002-2021, the study finds that expansion in industrial sector increases CO2 emissions for the region, while renewable energy consumption and mobile technology reduce carbon emissions. Also, renewable energy and mobile phone technology are found to moderate the effect of industrial growth on CO2 emissions. Other findings are that trade openness, urbanization, and income increase carbon dioxide emissions. The study recommends the removal of financial impediments in the way of industrial firms to enhance their acquisition of efficient technologies for operations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Also, governments in the region should increase financial support for the development and adoption of renewable energy.
Top1. Introduction
The 21st century has been marked by a continuous surge in the pace of global industrialization. There is a plethora of associated socio-economic gains that are frequently observed, including but not limited to job creation, poverty reduction, economic expansion, gender equality, improvement in labour standards, and greater access to quality education and healthcare. As a result, it is considered an important catalyst towards achieving aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indeed, over the past few decades, most African economies are seeking to make industrial expansion a key component of their drive towards sustainable growth and development. However, it must be noted at the same time that, industrial processes can have substantial negative environmental impacts – climate change, loss of natural resources, air and water pollution and extinction of species (Kwakwa et al., 2020; Aboagye et al., 2020; Kleemann and Abdulai, 2013).
Following the material balance principle, it is widely known that environment and industrial activities are linked inextricably. A key implication is the mass of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions flowing into the atmospheric environment which is regarded as a lead drive behind the growing trends in global warming and climate change. Today, the devastating effects of human-induced CO2 emissions, such as those emitted through the industrial sector, are now more obvious. These devastating effects have long been envisaged culminating into several environmental treaties. It is among these dangers that the 2015 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement, for instance, set the goal to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and aim for 1.5°C (Keramidas et al. 2018). Annual emissions need to be about half (25-30 GtCO2e/year on average) by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5˚C. However, a year after the agreement, total global greenhouse gas emissions rose by about 0.5% and have been projected to be 52-58 GtCO2e by 2030 (Keramidas et al. 2018).
Even though, Africa’s share of global CO2 emissions of about 7.1% is still relatively low (World Bank 2023), total CO2 emissions in the continent could rise if current trends persist unabated or unregulated. Over the past few decades, Africa’s natural resources have depleted remarkably resulting from accelerated pace of economic and social transformation. The observation is that activities such as manufacturing, construction, mining which fall within the industrial sector, do not only contribute to the depletion of the stock of natural resources but also add stress to the environmental system by increasing the stock of wastes. In addition, industry, is a highly energy-intensive sector, responsible for more than 37% of energy use which could be another major source of environmental degradation given the significant share of fossil energy in Africa’s energy mix (IEA 2022). Inasmuch as industrial expansion remains key to the economic prosperity of the continent, understanding the mechanisms by which the adverse environmental effects of industry could be mitigated is imperative as the concerns of environmental sustainability intensify. Moreover, the extent that the environment serves as both the resource base and waste sink for industrial activities implies that the sustainability of industry itself partly depends on the supply and quality of natural and environmental resources.
In the modern economy, technological improvement and renewable energy are two notable avenues or mechanisms frequently debated to exert downward pressure on environmental effects of human socio-economic activities including industrial expansion. The global economy is now in a digital age with digital technology leading a global technological revolution and industrial change (Schwab, 2017; Altinoz et al., 2021). In an era characterized by rapid globalization process and diffusion of information and communication in recent years, there is a growing body of debate on the role of the digital, information-driven, globalized economy in driving or mitigating greenhouse gas emissions (Shahbaz et al. 2017; Shahnazi and Shabani 2019; Usman et al. 2021). One of the technological advances in the digital economy is in the aspect of communication and information with mobile technology being a notable component. Yet, the extent to which the adoption of mobile technology is influencing the level of atmospheric CO2 emissions especially in African has not been subjected to rigorous quantitative evaluation by many studies (Kwakwa et al., 2023).