Investigating the Finance-Energy-Growth Trilogy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence From the NARDL Framework

This paper analyzes the nexus between energy consumption, financial development, and economic growth in twenty-one (21) sub-Saharan African (SSA) nations by using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) framework from 1990Q1 to 2014Q4. First, the study reveals that energy consumption and financial development have asymmetrical impacts on economic growth in most countries in the short and long term. Second, positive shocks to financial development favor economic growth in only a few nations compared to the negative shocks in the short term, whereas they have mixed effects in the long term. Third, we found that adverse shocks to energy consumption boost economic growth in several nations in the short term, unlike the positive shocks, but the scenario has reversed in the long term. We also found that gross fixed capital formation and labor force remain key factors promoting economic growth in many SSA countries, in contrast to the mixed effects of trade openness over time. Accordingly, our study recommends implementing energy-saving policies in specific SSA countries to stimulate sustainable development. Policymakers must embrace an effective credit allocation to the private sector supporting productive investments. Governments should also optimize domestic investments in physical capital, upgrade the labor force, and implement efficient strategies in international trade. These policy recommendations need to be implemented according to the unique socio-economic characteristics of each SSA country.