Sustainable Energy Finance, Environmental Regulatory Quality, and SDG-7 Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study examines how sustainable energy finance and environmental regulatory quality jointly influence two dimensions of Sustainable Development Goal-7 in sub-Saharan Africa: energy cleanability and energy accessibility. Covering 26 countries from 2005 to 2022, the analysis introduces novel composite indices derived using principal component analysis. The relationships were estimated using panel-corrected standard errors and feasible generalized least squares, complemented by the method-of-moments quantile regression and subregional breakdowns. Findings show that environmental regulatory quality exerts a strong and consistent positive effect on energy cleanability. Sustainable energy finance improves energy cleanability to a lesser extent and enhances energy accessibility only in low-performing countries with higher regulatory quality. Subregional analysis reveals that in West Africa, sustainable energy finance alone has little effect on energy access without strong regulation; in East Africa, regulation plays the dominant role; and in Central/Southern Africa, energy finance tends to be weak or even negative unless moderated by regulation. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting finance–regulation complementarities and recommending sequenced, blended finance tied to verifiable regulatory milestones. JEL Classification: Q42, Q48, Q56, G28, O55