The Dynamic Impact of Energy Consumption on Economic Growth in Sudan: A Vector Autoregression Analysis (Published)
The purpose of this study is to analyze the dynamic effect of energy consumption and CO2 emissions on economic growth in Sudan by utilizing annual time series data spanning the period 1971- 2015. After identifying the series order of stationarity by utilizing ADF and PP unit root tests, this study makes use of a ARDL and VAR model. The reason is that ARDL is preferable method since it incorporates both short and long run in its specification and can be used even when there is a mixed integration order. A VAR is the powerful in variance decomposition and the possibility of observing long run forecast in addition to the dynamic response to shocks.the findings indicate long run relationship among the variables of interest. Particularly, the results disclose that energy consumption and CO2 emissions exert positive and significant effect on economic growth in the long run. The causality analysis of the gradual shift indicates a uni-directional relationship running from energy consumption to economic growth. The test results support energy-induced growth hypothesis, which reveals that energy use impact greatly on economic growth and energy saving and/or energy shocks negatively affect economic growth. This means that Sudan’s economy is energy-driven and cannot embark or initiate conservative energy policies and strategies compromising economic growth. with the emergence of energy supply and global warming issues and their conceivable consequences on economic performance, investigating their interrelations is thus essential, which has been neglected baselessly in the literature especially in the case of Sudan.
Keywords: ARDL, CO2, GDP, Sudan, VAR, and energy consumption