The Impact of Natural resources, CO2 Emission, Energy use, Domestic Investment, Innovation, Trade and Digitalization on Economic growth: Evidence from 52 African Countries

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of natural resources, CO2 emission, energy use, domestic investment, innovation, trade, and digitalization on economic growth in the case of 52 African Countries. To attempt our goal, we used annual data of 52 African countries for the period 1996 to 2021 which was estimated by using random effect model, fixed effect model and Hausman test. Empirical results indicate that domestic investment, exports, natural resources and final consumption expenditure have a positive impact on economic growth. Also, we found that labor force, imports and energy use have a negative effect on economic growth. However, we found that CO2 emission, innovation and internet use don’t have any effect on economic growth. The study recommends vital policies that should focus on promoting domestic investment, exports, natural resources, and final consumption to stimulate economic growth in African countries. Similarly, it recommends creating new strategies to manage the role of the active population, imports, energy consumption, CO2 emissions, innovation, and digitalization to make their effects influential in improving the economic growth.