The environmental quality rhetoric: women’s political leadership, economic development and governance nexus in Africa

Environmental sustainability remains a major development challenge in West Africa, where economic expansion, governance reforms and gender inclusion continue to interact with environmental pressures. This study examines the linear and non-linear effects of women’s political leadership (WPL), economic development, governance quality and financial development on environmental quality in 16 West African economies from 1996 to 2022. Environmental quality is measured using the load capacity factor (LCF) and CO2 emissions. The study applies Panel Corrected Standard Errors and Feasible Generalised Least Squares estimators to account for cross-sectional dependence and heteroskedasticity. The findings show that WPL improves the LCF but simultaneously increases CO2 emissions. Economic development significantly worsens environmental sustainability by reducing the LCF and increasing emissions. Governance quality also reduces environmental quality and reinforces emission growth, while governance weakens the positive environmental contribution of WPL. Financial development improves the LCF but increases emissions, indicating mixed environmental outcomes. The nonlinear estimates further show that higher levels of economic development intensify ecological degradation. The study concludes that current development and governance structures in West Africa remain insufficient for sustainable environmental transition. The findings suggest the need for environmentally oriented governance reforms, stronger green finance systems and greater integration of women into environmental decision-making and climate governance frameworks.