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This study explores the extent to which regional integration can be a viable tool in driving energy sustainability in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub‐region of Africa and vice versa. It examines the existing opportunities and the attendant challenges for improved firm productivity in the region through the appraisal of the ECOWAS West African Power Pool. Using three measures of energy sustainability, namely energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability; the study presents the performance of the ECOWAS sub‐region in ensuring regional integration for energy sustainability. The findings from the study reveal, inter alia, that there are prospects and benefits for energy integration for sustainable development in the region. However, even though some progress had been made, there are many challenges. Also, where progress had been made, it is not uniform across the region, though factors such as rising population and political instability could be responsible. It is recommended that the political economy surrounding regional energy integration should be given a priority among member states to ensure that there is positive political will for speedy achievement of set goals. Also, investment in human capital to manage the different projects and maintain the facilities cannot be overemphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the role that innovation plays as an engine for economic development, we examined the enabling factor of institutions in Africa. Particularly, attention was given to determining the equivalent effects of institutional development on innovation. A sample of 40 African countries over the period 1996-2012 was employed, and our baseline equation was estimated using the system generalised method of moments ( SGMM) estimation technique. The empirical result reveals that government effectiveness and regulatory quality are two institutional measures that have the most equivalent impact on innovation. The extent of impact is an indication that institutions matter, especially when considering innovation in Africa. Therefore, to advance the rate of innovation in Africa, improving frameworks to drive regulations and enhance government effectiveness is a necessary instrument. Having these in place, Africa will be able to catch up with advanced economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine the linkage between environmental challenges, multinational corporations (MNCs) activities, trade and energy in Africa; and further elaborate on the role of institutions, as an intervening variable. Design/methodology/approach -- In this study, the authors extended the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) model by including indicators of the presence of MNCs, trade and energy in the basic EKC model that has measures of environmental pollution (CO2), economic growth (gross domestic product per capita) and its squared value. The role of institutions was also considered and included as an inter-mediating variable. This model was tested on a sample of 27 African countries, for the period 1996-2010. The systems GMM was applied for the empirical analysis. This approach was aimed at circumventing the possibility of reverse causality and endogenous explanatory variables-such as institutions. Findings -- Trade and MNCs' activities may not have much contemporaneous impact on the environment. However, their lagged values have adverse and significant influence on the current values of environmental challenge. This implies that environmental policies regarding trade and MNCs require time response lag. Energy was significant only at contemporaneous value but not at its lagged value. Institutional development helps to suppress the negative excesses (like pollution) from the activities of trade, MNCs and energy, and consequently reduce environmental pollution. Originality/value -- This paper included the role of institutions in the environmental pollution, trade, MNCs and energy debate. Empirical studies in this regard have inadvertently excluded this variable, but have, at best, included it as part of policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study is to establish the applicability of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in explaining the relationship between environmental pollution and development in Africa. The EKC has been used to explain such relationships in a variety of contexts, yet rarely applied in Africa, despite it hosting both the poorest countries in the world, 60% of those with extreme environmental pollution vulnerability and having a distinct socio-economic and institutional profile that tests the validity of such a model. This paper describes an empirical model that applies the EKC hypothesis and its modifications to 50 African countries, using data from 1995–2010. The empirical analysis suggests that there is a long-term relationship between CO2and particulate matter emissions with per capita income and other variables, including institutional factors and trade, leading to specific recommendations on future strategies for sustainable development in an African context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Workers' remittance and compensation of employees received in Sub-Sahara Africa ( SSA) increased from USD 1.398 billion in 1980 to USD 4.834 billion in 2000 and soared to USD 21.101 billion in 2010. The impact of remittance on recipient economy requires further empirical investigation as there has not been consensus on whether remittance induces 'financial prodigality' or investment in Africa. Differing from extant studies, this study employed rule of law, regulatory quality and government effectiveness as indicators of institutional quality. This is with a view to exploring how institutional quality and financial depth interact with remittance to influence investment in 44 African countries (1995-2010). The major finding from the study, inter alia, is that institutional quality and financial depth play complimentary role in influencing remittance for investment in Africa. This study concludes that the impact of Africa's money in Africa will be enhanced in the presence of reliable institutional quality and viable financial sector. Thus, the side effect of 'financial prodigality' that might be associated with remittance can be ameliorated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economic crisis of 2007/2008 that threatened the economic/financial fabrics of most countries has brought again the essence of strong institutional quality to the fore. This is particularly interesting as it impacted on trade outcomes in many countries including those in Africa. For instance, merchandize exports as a percentage of GDP for SSA reduced by 17.9% in 2007. Thus, this paper examines the effectiveness of RECs in Africa with respect to trade outcomes using some indicators, which was achieved using data from African Development Indicators, inter alia (1996-2008). Analyzing the data with descriptive and statistical techniques established, among others, that the respective indicators of trade outcomes, institutional quality were rather low and differed markedly across RECs in Africa. The study recommends that improvement of institutional quality in tandem with enhanced infrastructural facilities will play crucial roles in promoting trade outcomes in Africa's RECs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]