Effect of Trade and Industrialisation on Environmental Sustainability: The Case of African Countries

This study explores the effect of trade and industrialisation on environmental sustainability in Africa. To achieve the study objective, the pooled mean group estimation strategy was employed on data from 1990 to 2019 for 38 selected African countries. Findings are indicative that trade has a negative and significant effect on ecological footprint in the long run. It is iemplied that trade enhancement has the tendency to enhance environmental sustainability in African countries. In addition, industrialisation has a positive and significant effect on ecological footprint. Implied is that industrialisation dampens environmental sustainability in African countries. Similarly, foreign direct investment inflows into African countries exert a positive but insignificant effect on ecological footprint. The result further depicts that economic growth positively and significantly impacts ecological footprints in African countries. Also, renewable energy consumption has a negative and significant effects on ecological footprint, suggesting that the adoption of renewable energy plays a crucial role in enhancing environmental sustainability in African countries. The short-run result reveals no significant relationship between trade, industrialisation, foreign direct investment and ecological footprints. Population growth has a positive effect on ecological footprint, albeit not a statistically significant effect. Furthermore, the result depicts that renewable energy consumption has a negative and significant effect on ecological footprints in African countries. On the strength of the findings, we recommend the stimulation of domestic trade and the strengthening of industrial policies to ensure environmental sustainability in African countries. JEL Codes: C33, F14, F18, R11