Energy Consumption and Education in African Oil-Exporting Countries: Insights from Non-Linear Causal Analysis

The study investigates the nonlinear causality between energy use and educational attainment in AOECs within the period 2000–2022. Motivated by the challenges of energy access and their implications for human capital accumulation in resource-dependent economies, panel threshold autoregressive models and nonlinear Granger causality analysis are employed. The findings reveal significant bi-directional causality between energy consumption and education, with threshold effects showing that low-energy regimes hinder educational development by concealing electricity and technology, and high-energy regimes stabilise the educational infrastructures. Quantitatively, low-energy consumption significantly cuts off education by 4.99 units, while high-energy consumption has an insignificant effect (β = -0.14, p > 0.26). While the impact of economic growth on education is also heterogeneous, it is positive and significant by 9% in high-growth regimes but is negligible in the low-growth regime. Therefore, the paper recommends increasing access to renewable energy, reducing income inequalities and poverty, and investing in educational and energy infrastructure to improve outcomes and sustainable development in the AEOCs.