The nexus between electricity consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, and economic growth in Sudan (1971–2019)

Abstract

Electricity access for economic development is a major challenge in Sudan amidst rapid population growth and climate variabilities. This study investigates the nexus between electricity consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, total population, and economic growth from 1971 to 2019. This study incorporates Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound testing approach with various econometric techniques to address methodological limitations in Sudan and introduces appealing methodological innovation to control the structural breaks in the dataset. The empirical findings demonstrate that, despite the high potential of energy resources, Sudan has failed to provide adequate electricity to promote economic development and meet population electricity demand. The ARDL results show strong associations between total population, environmental degradation and economic growth. The Granger causality results show evidence that the country's growing population improves economic growth, increases electricity demand, and damages the environment. Therefore, the government's greatest challenge is achieving economic growth while promoting environmental quality. The findings suggest that Sudan cannot take the energy conservation policy because it could delay the country's economic growth. However, various policy reforms are needed for affordable electricity access and environmentally-friendly development, like promoting renewable energy, diversifying of energy mix, and supporting high efficiency in consumption-based sectors.