Determinants of Environmental Pollution in Sub-Sahara Africa

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue III, March 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Determinants of Environmental Pollution in Sub-Sahara Africa

Akinbode Damilola Olatunde & Ogunleye, Edward Oladipo
Department of Economics, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract: This study examined the determinants of environmental pollution in Sub-Sahara Africa. Specifically the study analyze the effect of some economic variables (Energy Consumption, Gross Domestic Product, Population Size, Trade Openness, Domestic Investment, Foreign Direct Investment) on the level of environmental pollution measured in terms of carbon- dioxide emission, Nitrous-oxide emission and methane emission. This study focused on 35 Sub-Saharan African countries, covering a period of 18 years spanning from 2000 to 2017. Data were sourced from World banks’ development indicator database. This study made use of panel corrected standard error (PCSE) estimator. Result showed that energy consumption exerts significant positive effect on carbon-dioxide emission (22.40624, p < 0.05) and Nitrous oxide emission (12.60901, p< 0.05); gross domestic product exerts significant positive effect on Methane emission (0.03616, p < 0.05); trade openness exerts significant positive effect on Nitrous-oxide emission (16.58554, p < 0.05), and Methane emission (17.3302, p < 0.05), but its effect on carbon-dioxide emission is negative and significant (-10.9857, p < 0.05); also population size exerts significant positive effect on carbon-dioxide emission (173.7638, p < 0.05); Nitrous-oxide emission (265.0668, p < 0.05), and methane emission (417.5629, p < 0.05). This study thus concluded that environmental pollution in Sub-Sahara Africa is significantly determined by energy consumption, population size, trade openness and gross domestic product among other variables examined in the study. Hence Sub-Sahara African countries should objectively embrace technological diffusion by encouraging mobilization of finance, investment and innovation in low-carbon production processes. Also Environmental regulatory frameworks in SSA should advocate for bold pollution-beating commitments from the industrial sector to regulate pollution associated with production processes

Keywords: Environmental pollution, determinants, Sub- Sahara, Africa

I. INTRODUCTION

The rise in global environmental pollution is reflected in the rate of greenhouse gas emission, which observably as at 2010 was 20% higher than what was recorded in year 2000. Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) had trended upwards over time with 2011 emission almost 50 percent above that of 1990 (United Nations, 2014). Depletion of Ozone layer due to rise in environmental pollution in recent time resulted into over-exposure to harmful Ultra-Violet (UV) light from the sun, thus increasing the chances of deadly skin cancer by threefold especially in children (United Nations, 2017; Anand, 2013)
As observed by Coker (2012), discharge of pollutants in terms of materials and energy into water, land, and air, has the

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