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Achieving economic development and environmental sustainability simultaneously is one of the most important development challenges for Africa today. The relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability is founded on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). This paper examines the validity of the hypothesis and the driving factors of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission in five African countries using the STIRPAT empirical model, panel cointegration and fully modified ordinary least squares. Unlike previous studies, economic development is disaggregated into agriculture and industrial economic development. The results show that there is no evidence of the validity of the hypothesis in Africa, regardless of whether economic development is driven by agriculture or industrialisation. Energy structure and energy intensity are the two major driving forces of CO 2 emissions in Africa. Population growth and urbanisation have negative relationship with CO 2 emissions. From our results, the EKC is not a sound basis for environmental policy in Africa; rather, environmental policy in Africa, specifically for CO 2 emissions mitigation, should focus on encouraging energy efficiency, enhancing the use of clean energy, incorporating the impact of population growth and harnessing the positive impacts of urbanisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]