Resource Wealth and Environmental Resilience: Mapping African Economies

ABSTRACT Effective management of natural resources is paramount for achieving sustainable economic growth while mitigating environmental degradation in resource‐rich regions. This study investigates the impact and spatial spillover effects of natural resources on economic growth and CO 2 emissions for 54 African countries. The data from 2005 to 2022 were collected from the World Development Indicators (WDI). Recognizing the endogeneity issues, the study utilized two‐stage least square estimation approaches, including panel 2SLS, Spatial Autoregressive (SAR), and Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) estimations to obtain both spatial and non‐spatial estimates. The non‐spatial results indicate a strong positive impact of natural resources, CO 2 emissions, FDI, and governance on growth, while reliance on renewable energy sources may temporarily lower GDP due to initial transition costs. Moreover, GDP growth, FDI, and governance positively affect CO 2 emissions, whereas natural resources and renewable energy inversely influence CO 2 emissions. In addition, the spatial analysis findings reveal that GDP growth in one country positively influences GDP growth in neighboring countries and neighboring countries' natural resources also have significant spatial spillover effects on the GDP growth in the region. Moreover, CO 2 emissions exhibit spatial interdependence with neighboring nations and the natural resources of neighboring countries exert significant spatial spillover effects on CO 2 emissions. This study contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive spatial and non‐spatial analysis of the natural resource‐economic growth‐environment nexus in Africa. It provides novel insights into the spatial spillover effects that have been overlooked in prior research. The findings recommend boosting regional cooperation in resource management and emission reduction to get benefits on positive GDP growth spillover effects and mitigate CO 2 emissions across neighboring African countries.