Urbanization-ICT Nexus and Environmental Sustainability in West African Countries: A Cross-Sectional ARDL Approach

Abstract

Studies have shown that urbanization presents a unique opportunity to drive economic growth and improve living standards, but it also poses significant environmental sustainability challenges. Evidence suggests that harnessing digital technologies have the potential to radically transform urban centers into smart cities, thereby addressing sustainability challenges. This study, therefore, examines the relationship between urbanization, ICT, and environmental sustainability in West Africa, employing a Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model. The empirical findings reveal a monotonic relationship between urbanization and environmental sustainability in the selected West African countries. The results suggest that rapid urbanization is likely to lead to environmental degradation, meaning that as cities expand, environmental quality tends to decline. Moreover, the interactive analysis reveals that urbanization and ICT exert a positive and significant effect on environmental sustainability, suggesting that ICT serves as a moderating force: although urbanization on its own harms the environment, the negative effect of urbanization is reduced when ICT increases alongside urban growth. In addition, the findings reveal that ICT and GDP per capita have a significant effect on environmental sustainability in the long run. The nonlinear and positive effect of ICT and GDP per capita significantly enhance environmental sustainability. Thus, provides evidence in support of the EKC hypothesis for the selected West African countries. Accordingly, to enhance environmental sustainability in these countries, policymakers should design policies to promote ICT within sustainable energy frameworks, improve institutional quality, and facilitate the transition to a circular economy. These strategies are crucial for ensuring that urbanization and digital advancement contribute to long-term environmental sustainability in West Africa.