Overcoming barriers to clean cooking solutions: Political risk, financial development, and their implications for achieving SDG 7 in Nigeria

Abstract

Clean cooking fuels and technologies are crucial for tackling environmental degradation, climate change, deforestation, health issues, air pollution, and poverty. However, many African countries, including Nigeria, continue to face significant challenges in accessing these resources. Existing research provides limited insights into the factors influencing the adoption of clean cooking fuels and technologies, particularly when analyzed through macroeconomic indicators from 2000 to 2022. Due to the nature of the data, nonlinear techniques were employed to uncover these associations. Specifically, the innovative Wavelet Kernel Regularized Least Squares method was applied to examine the impact of financial development, renewable energy consumption, information and communication technology (ICT), and political risk on access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking (ACE). Additionally, wavelet quantile cointegration was introduced to assess the cointegration relationships among the variables. The results reveal that economic growth has a minimal impact on ACE in the short term but becomes more significant over time. ICT positively influences ACE in the medium to long term, while financial development tends to reduce ACE. Renewable energy consumption promotes ACE, whereas political risk impedes it in the short term. However, improvements in political stability significantly enhance ACE in the long run. These findings form the basis for policy recommendations proposed in the study.