The winds of change: Spatiotemporal dynamics and efficiency-technology-related drivers of energy consumption in 30 African countries

Abstract

<p>Africa is experiencing extreme poverty and explosive population growth, along with severe climate-change effects. To address these issues and boost economic development in Africa, sustainable energy consumption is not just important but crucial. Yet, knowledge of the intrinsic characteristics (e.g., inequality and convergence) and drivers of the energy consumption in Africa is limited, thereby hindering policy formulation toward sustainable energy consumption. Here, this study presents an in-depth investigation on the spatiotemporal characteristics and drivers of energy consumption where drivers related to efficiency and technological change with/without heterogeneity between 1980 and 2021 for 30 African countries were captured using the log t convergence, Gini coefficient decomposition, and production-theoretical decomposition models, respectively. The results indicated a converging trend in the energy consumption among the 30 African countries. While the population size was the largest driver, our analysis revealed that technological efficiency and progress in energy usage were significant in shaping Africa’s energy trajectory. Moreover, the results indicated that the group technical change effects of energy usage were important for curbing energy consumption growth, depicting varying impacts across the regions. The study highlights the importance of accounting for the regional spatiotemporal differences in the drivers especially those related to energy efficiency and technology, to ensure sustainable energy consumption across the African continent.</p>