Programme: Economics
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://itsupport.cu.edu.ng:4000/handle/123456789/28791
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Item IMPACT OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IN SELECTED SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES(Covenant University Ota, 2025-08) OLAOYE, Olugbenga Olaposi; Covenant University DissertationSub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces a pressing development dilemma: rising energy demand, weak financial inclusion, and worsening environmental degradation. The region’s reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, gas, and oil has intensified carbon emissions and undermined environmental sustainability, while the exclusion of a significant share of the population from formal financial systems constrains their ability to invest in clean energy and sustainable practices. Despite growing global advocacy for inclusive finance and clean energy adoption, existing research provides limited evidence on how financial inclusion moderates the energy–environment nexus, particularly within SSA. Furthermore, the potential influence of structural breaks—such as global financial crises, international climate agreements, and pandemics—on this relationship remains underexplored. These gaps informed the motivation for this study. This research examined the impact of financial inclusion on the relationship between energy consumption and environmental quality across 38 low- and middle-income SSA countries between 1991 and 2022. Anchored on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, the study employed annual secondary data sourced from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators. The Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model was the principal estimation technique, as it accounts for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity while capturing both short- and longrun dynamics. To ensure robustness, the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimator was also applied. The empirical results show that energy consumption significantly worsens environmental quality across the region, with middle-income countries exhibiting a stronger positive association between energy use, capital investment, and carbon emissions. Real GDP and gross capital investment further contributed to emissions, reflecting the industrial expansion of African economies. In contrast, the quality of environmental regulation was negatively associated with emissions, indicating its mitigating role, though implementation remains uneven across countries. Financial inclusion was found to be a critical determinant of environmental outcomes: in middle-income economies, greater inclusion significantly reduced emissions by enabling access to credit, green finance, and adoption of cleaner technologies. However, in low-income countries, the short-term effects of financial inclusion on environmental quality were positive but statistically insignificant, reflecting structural constraints in their financial systems. The study concludes that financial inclusion can serve as a viable policy instrument for environmental sustainability in SSA. Expanding inclusive finance, strengthening regulatory enforcement, and aligning financial innovations with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Africa’s Agenda 2063 are vital for promoting clean energy adoption and building climate-resilient economies.Item EFFCTS OF DIGITAL PAYMENT AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SELECTED WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES(Covenant University Ota, 2025-04) ADEKOYA, Oluwasegun Ayomide; Covenant University DissertationThis study examined the effect of digital payment and financial inclusion on economic growth in selected West African countries. The financial sector remains a key driver of economic growth globally, especially as countries employ more technology-driven systems; this shift has profound effects across all sectors, including the financial sector. Meanwhile, despite the ongoing policy efforts to promote digital transactions, West Africa still lags behind in financial inclusion as compared to the global standards. Hence, the study examined the interactive effect of digital payment and financial inclusion on economic growth in selected West African countries. This study employed the Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS) estimation technique to analyse data for ten (10) West African countries from 2014 to 2022. The data was sourced from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators. The explanatory variables used in the model were; mobile transfer payment, mobile money, account ownership at a financial institution or with a mobile-moneyservice provider, labour force and gross fixed capital formation, the dependent variable was real gross domestic product. The findings of the study revealed that both digital payments and financial inclusion independently contribute positively and significantly to economic growth. However, the interaction of digital payments (proxied by mobile transfers) and financial inclusion had a negative and statistically significant impact on economic growth. In contrast, the interaction of mobile money and financial inclusion showed a positive and significant effect on economic growth. The study concludes thus, that the interactive effect between digital payment and financial inclusion has a positive impact on economic growth in the selected West African countries. Based on the findings, this study recommended that mobile money offers a stronger economic potential, and should therefore, be used more as a preferred digital payment channel to enhance financial inclusion and economic expansion in West Africa. The study concluded that economic growth will be boosted if digital payments is strengthened more in financial inclusivityItem The mobile phone technology, gender inclusive education and public accountability in Sub-Saharan Africa(Telecommunications Policy Volume 45, Issue 4,, 2021-05) Asongu A.; Adegboye Alex; Ejemeyovwi Jeremiah O.; Umukoro O. E.This study assesses the relevance of mobile phone technology in complementing gender inclusive education (i.e. primary, secondary and tertiary) to promote public accountability (i.e. involving horizontal, vertical and diagonal accountability dynamics). The study utilizes the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to establish the empirical evidence based on 48 Sub-Saharan African countries for the period 2005– 2018. The following findings are documented from the linkages between mobile phone technology, inclusive education and public accountability. First, the interactions between mobile phone technology and inclusive education promote public accountability. Second, with regard to net effects, while unexpected negative signs are established, the corresponding positive interactive effects indicate that enhancing the penetration of mobile phone technology beyond some critical thresholds ensures positive net effects. Hence, policy makers should ensure that mobile phone technology penetration exceeds the established thresholds in order for gender inclusive education to positively affect public accountability.Item Promoting female economic inclusion for tax performance in Sub-Saharan Africa(Economic Analysis and Policy Volume 69 (Published byElsevier), 2020) Asongu A.; Adegboye Alex; Nnanna JosephThis study explores whether female economic inclusion enhances tax performance in a sample of 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2018. The study’s empirical evidence is based on the generalized method of moments in order to account for endogeneity concerns. Three tax performance measurements are used, notably, total taxes revenue excluding social contributions, reported tax revenue derived from natural resources sources, and total non-resource tax revenue. Three female inclusion indicators are used, namely, female employment in industry, female labour force participation, and female employment. The following empirical evidences are documented; (i) There is a negative net effect from the enhancement of female employment in the industry on the total tax revenue. (ii) There is a positive net effect of female employment in the industry on the non-resource taxes. An extended threshold analysis is performed to establish the critical masses that could further influence tax performance positively. The following thresholds are established. (i) a minimum of 15.35 “employment in industry, female (% of female employment)” for the total tax revenue and (ii) a maximum of 23.75 “employment in industry, female (% of female employment)” for the non-resource tax revenue. These critical masses are crucial for sustainable development because, below or beyond these thresholds, policymakers should complement the female economic inclusion with other economic measures designed to improve tax performance in Sub-Saharan Africa.