The Dynamic Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption on Economic Growth in Zimbabwe: An ARDL Approach

Abstract

Motivated by the study country’s active involvement in the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions and the positive strides it has made domestically in increasing renewable energy in its energy mix, on the one hand, and the need to find out whether renewable energy consumption can also assist in reviving the economy, on the other hand, this study empirically examines the dynamic impact of renewable energy consumption on economic growth in Zimbabwe. Using annual time-series data from 1990 to 2019, and the autoregressive distributed lag approach, the results of the study show that in Zimbabwe, renewable energy consumption has apositive impact on economic growth, both in the short and long run. Increasing the usage of renewable energy increases the growth of the economy in the country of study. These results imply that Zimbabwe can achieve two goals using one strategy – increasing renewable energy consumption to decrease the negative impact climate change and greenhouse gas emission have on the environment and the economy, and increasing economic growth. Policy makers in Zimbabwe are, therefore, recommended to supportincreased use of renewable energy over alternative energy sources, as this would have positive implications on the economy, both in the short and long term.