Abstract:
With the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the issue of sustainable development has been risen to the top of the global policy agenda. Thus, this study investigated the main determinants of sustainable development in 30 Sub-Saharan African countries, employing panel data from 2000-2020. Moreover, the study conducted a separate analysis of the determinants of environmental, economic and social pillars of sustainable development with the main focus on their linkages with renewable energy consumption, human capital development and unemployment rates, respectively. It adds to the growing literature on the subject, accounting for the role of institutional and political factors and addressing the problem of robust estimation under the situations of cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity issues using the Augmented Mean Group estimation technique, among others. Additionally, the Structural Equation Model was used to analyse the direct and indirect effects of institutional quality on sustainable development. The results of the study indicated that renewable energy consumption was found to have a positive and statistically significant effect on environmental sustainability, whereas human capital development and unemployment rate were found to have a negative and statistically significant effect on economic sustainability and social sustainability of Sub-Saharan African countries, respectively. In addition, results from the policy dummy variable indicated that greenhouse emissions, adjusted net national income and human development index had significantly increased post the millennium development goals period. Moreover, institutional quality, adjusted net national income and human development index were found to have a positive and statistically significant effect on sustainable development of Sub-Saharan African countries. Therefore, building strong institutions and stable political systems, diversifying renewable energy sources, investing in quality education and creating employment opportunities for youth are among the policy options that Sub-Saharan African countries and policymakers could work on to achieve the goal of sustainable development.