From non-renewables to renewables and high-tech production: The impact of natural wealth and technology on ecological load capacity in sub-Saharan Africa

In the face of growing sustainability challenges, this study examines the ecological impacts of natural wealth (NR) and tech-driven industrial diversification (TID) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It employs the load capacity factor (LCF), utilizing a panel dataset spanning from 1991 to 2020. The findings reveal that renewable (forest) resources exert a positive and significant influence on LCF, primarily at lower quantiles. When the resource basket is adjusted to include mineral resources, this impact turns negative across all quantiles, with statistical significance evident at the upper quantiles. Further modifications to the resource basket, including energy extraction such as oil, coal, and natural gas, yield a statistically significant negative impact on LCF across the lower, median, and upper quantiles. Additionally, TID has a positive impact on LCF in the upper quantiles. Robustness analysis confirms that the covariates indeed Granger-cause LCF. This finding also indicates that the causal equation is significantly influenced by past values of NR and TID. The Half-Panel Jackknife estimator reaffirms that, on average, TID has a positive effect on LCF in the region. These findings suggest enhancing growth through renewables and industrial capacity in medium- and high-tech industries as part of broader sustainability strategies in the SSA region.