AI-driven Technological Innovation and Climate Finance as Catalysts for Green Growth in Africa’s Carbon-Intensive Economies

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🔬研究者:Provides empirical evidence on AI innovation and climate finance complementarity in African context.

🏢実務担当者:Highlights the need for AI capability building and climate finance absorption for green transformation.

🏛政策担当者:Suggests policies to scale AI innovation and reduce carbon dependence in fossil-fuel-dependent economies.

Abstract The transition toward sustainable development in Africa’s carbon-intensive economies requires a clearer understanding of how technological innovation and climate finance jointly influence inclusive green growth. This study examines the green growth catalytic roles of artificial intelligence innovation and climate finance in five major carbon-emitting African economies, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, and Morocco, over the period 2010–2024. Using a balanced panel of 75 observations, the analysis integrates AI patent activity and climate finance flows within a unified empirical framework grounded in endogenous growth and ecological modernization theories. To address small-sample limitations, unobserved heterogeneity, and cross-sectional dependence, the study employs a triangulated estimation strategy. Bayesian fixed-effects models provide probabilistic inference, the bias-corrected Least Squares Dummy Variable estimator captures dynamic persistence in green growth, and Driscoll–Kraay fixed-effects models ensure robustness to heteroskedasticity, serial correlation, and cross-sectional dependence. The findings consistently show that climate finance exerts a positive and robust effect on inclusive green growth across all specifications. AI-driven technological innovation demonstrates a significant growth-enhancing impact in dynamic and cross-sectionally robust models, indicating that its contribution materializes cumulatively over time. Carbon intensity remains a structural constraint in the baseline and dynamic estimations, highlighting the transition challenges faced by fossil-dependent economies. These findings support the evidence of complementarity between technological capability and climate finance in accelerating green structural transformation. Therefore, African carbon-intensive economies need to better absorb climate finance and scale up AI-driven innovation to support green transformation. Reducing carbon dependence and aligning population growth with sustainable productivity will be crucial. JEL Code : Q01, Q48, Q55, Q56, O13

• openaire https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10036436/v1first seen 2026-08-04 04:40:33