Examining the determinants of water resources availability in sub-Sahara Africa: a panel-based econometrics analysis

With the rapid development of economies, the problem of water resources availability particularly in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) has increased significantly. Specifically, in recent times, addressing the challenge of access to water resources has become a global issue of which countries in SSA are not exceptional since the adequate supply of potable water is as relevant as economic development. Consequently, this current paper seeks to estimate the determinants of water resources availability in sub-Sahara Africa. For this purpose, a panel-based regression model, which represents the availability of water resources, is specified based on the period 2000 to 2016 to examine a panel of 41 SSA countries sub-sectioned into low, lower-middle, and upper-middle-income nations. Considering the existence of residual cross-sectional reliance, outcomes based on the CIP and CADF unit root tests showed that the variables were not integrated at the same order. This thus leads to the employment of the PMG/ARDL estimation approach which unveiled that (i) agriculture production has a significant negative influence on H₂O in the lower-middle and low-income panel of SSA countries whereas in the upper-middle-income panel, an insignificant impact is witnessed; (ii) CO₂ emissions affect H₂O palpably in the upper-middle-income SSA panel while for lower-middle and low-income panels, an adverse effect is identified; (iii) economic growth adversely influenced H₂O resources in the lower-middle-income panel whereas in the case of the low-income panel, a significant positive liaison is evidenced; (iv) excluding low-income panel, industrial development concerning H₂O has a significant negative influence in upper-middle and lower-middle-income panels; (v) urbanization homogeneously showed a positive relationship with H₂O resources across all panels. The results are reconfirmed by the CCEPMG/CS-ARDL and MG employed as robust methods. Causality checks by Dumitrescu-Hurlin test finally revealed a mixture of results regarding the causal paths amid variables among the country panels. Policy recommendations have therefore been proposed based on the study findings.