Abstract

Author:
Onum Friday Okoh, Agama Omachi

Doi: 10.26480/egnes.02.2025.65.70

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

This study investigates the dynamic relationship between CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, and economic growth in six selected ECOWAS countries—Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana—from 1990 to 2024. Using annual panel data, the study incorporates key macroeconomic variables such as foreign direct investment (FDI), gross capital formation (GCF), population growth, and exchange rate. Data were sourced from the World Development Indicators and analyzed using Fixed Effect Model (FEM), Random Effect Model (REM), and the Hausman specification test to determine the most appropriate estimation technique. Descriptive statistics and regression outputs reveal that CO₂ emissions, renewable energy consumption, population growth, and exchange rate have statistically significant positive impacts on GDP. In contrast, GCF shows a significant negative relationship, while FDI exhibits a statistically insignificant effect on economic growth. The Hausman test favors the FEM, indicating that country-specific characteristics significantly influence the model’s explanatory variables. The findings highlight the importance of energy and environmental factors in shaping economic performance within ECOWAS. The study recommend sprioritizing renewable energy investments, improving capital allocation efficiency, and enhancing environmental policies to achieve sustainable economic growth. It concludes by suggesting further research with expanded geographic and variable scope to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the emissions-growth nexus in West Africa.