Natural Resource Rents, Institutional Quality, and Environmental Degradation in Resource-Rich Sub-Saharan African Countries

Kin Sibanda, Rufaro Garidzirai (), Farai Mushonga and Dorcas Gonese
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Kin Sibanda: Economic and Business Sciences, Faculty of Commerce and Adminstration, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha 5117, South Africa
Rufaro Garidzirai: Department of Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Butterworth 4960, South Africa
Farai Mushonga: Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha 6011, South Africa
Dorcas Gonese: Department of Economics, Faculty of Management and Commerce, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-11

Abstract: Environmental degradation concerns are increasing worldwide. Moreover, in sub-Saharan African countries, these concerns are dominant because of an abundance of natural resources and exhaustion of these natural resources that tend to cause carbon emissions. This has created a huge interest among academics in investigating the relationship between natural resources, institutional quality, and environmental degradation. Since the sub-Saharan countries are resource-rich, the current study investigates how the natural resource rents and institutional quality impacted environmental degradation in selected sub-Saharan African countries from 1994 to 2020. Through employing the GMM estimation technique, the findings show that natural rents are positively linked with environmental degradation. This is closely related to the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, which stipulates that environmental degradation worsens at the initial stage of the economic development of developing countries. The study has also found that rules and regulations set by governments have not been implemented in a manner that reduces environmental degradation in the region. Worth noting is that the region should collaborate and design its environmental policies in line with the Sustainable Developmental Goals. This is the first step towards environmental sustainability.

Keywords: environmental degradation; institutional quality; natural rents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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