Nigeria’s path to green growth: the role of energy poverty, food security and public debt

Purpose The current pursuit of economic progress has intensified environmental concerns, thereby constraining the attainment of sustainable development. As conventional economic patterns continue to stress the ecosystem, the emergence of green growth (GEG) is widely acknowledged as a vital paradigm for attaining balanced and inclusive progress. Although previous studies have explored the drivers of GEG, the effect of energy poverty (EP), food security (FS) and public debt on GEG is still not explored in the literature. Consequently, this study aims to assess the impact of EP, FS and public debt on GEG in Nigeria between 1990 and 2022. Design/methodology/approach To properly account for the study dynamics, the research uses a novel approach of augmented autoregressive distributed lag (AARDL). Findings The study’s outcome shows that FS, EP and domestic debt promote GEG while external debt stifles GEG. Given the study’s discovery, the authors suggested several policy options that will assist Nigeria in attaining several sustainable development goals (SDGs), notably SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 7 (clean energy) and SDG 8 (sustainable growth). Originality/value This study signifies a pioneering empirical assessment of the simultaneous influence of EP, public debt and FS on GEG. This comprehensive strategy differs from prior fragmented studies that assessed these factors in isolation. Also, the study focuses on Nigeria, a country that is currently at the crossroads of food insecurity, EP, debt burden and energy transition.