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The growth of migrant remittances poses a real challenge in developing countries both in terms of development and the quality of the environment. This paper examines the effect of migrant remittances on the ecological footprint in Africa with taking account the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Unlike previous work that has considered carbon dioxide emissions as a measure of environmental degradation, this study takes into account the ecological footprint as a fair measure of environmental quality. Our sample consists of 30 African countries from 2000 to 2021. We use two methodologies, respectively Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) with instrumental variable and quantile for robustness. The results show that remittances contribute to environmental degradation by increasing the ecological footprint. Moreover, taking into account the modified environmental Kuznets curve effect, our results show that more migrants' remittances increase, more they contribute to improving the environment by improving the ecological footprint. Our results remain robust using quantile regression. Moreover, ICTs reduce the adverse effect of remittances on environmental degradation. In addition, the results reveal that urbanization and human capital improve environmental quality but energy consumption damage it in Africa. Besides, reducing remittances costs and considering incentives to increase remittances inflows to the country remains a suitable target under sustainable development. Finally, there is evidence to implement effective financial system to soften investment credits granting intended for clean technology. Households and individuals should minimize their use of remittances to finance carbon-intensive items like automobiles and others. Moreover, is been necessary to improve ICT penetration and his efficiency in the African countries' context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fight against global climate change, improving energy efficiency and reducing related emissions are critical to mitigating sustainability issues such as global warming. In this regard, technological progress is known to improve energy efficiency and reduce related emissions. However, previous sustainability studies on Africa have paid less attention to energy and emission efficiency convergence among countries, along with the contribution of technological progress to the continent's sustainability. Accordingly, this paper develops a novel framework that assesses energy and emission efficiency convergence, gauges technology inequality, identifies the barriers to technology diffusion, and explores the factors influencing energy and emission efficiency convergence in Africa. The proposed framework incorporates Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), several economic convergence concepts, a K-means clustering model, the concept of efficiency Gini coefficient, and a group-based inequality decomposition method. We empirically covered 39 African countries from 2006 to 2018. The results show that African countries are, on average, 71.1% energy efficient and 65.3% CO 2 emission efficient, leaving more room for energy saving and emissions reduction. Second, there is strong evidence of convergence in energy and emission efficiencies in Africa. Third, despite the observed convergence process, there is significant heterogeneity between two research groups (i.e., low-and high-efficiency groups of countries) in terms of energy and emission efficiencies, with persistent technology inequality suggesting a lower contribution of environmental technological advancements to the continent's sustainability. Furthermore, cross-group inequality is the primary barrier to technology diffusion. Fourth, regional cooperation accelerates the convergence process in the two efficiency indicators. While economic development, industrial structure, and renewable energy consumption (REC) tend to favor energy and emission efficiency growth, rising foreign direct investment (FDI) and energy prices have a negative impact. Meanwhile, the effects of energy prices, FDI, and REC on emission efficiency are insignificant. Based on our findings, we discussed policy implications to promote energy and emission efficiency convergence and narrow environmental technology gaps. • Convergence in Total-factor energy and emission efficiency in Africa is explored. • Technology inequality across African countries is measured. • There is strong evidence of convergence in TFEE and TFCEE in Africa. • A persistent technology inequality is found among African countries. • Cross-group efficiency inequality is the main barrier to technology diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]