African Participation in Global Value Chains and Its Environmental Impact: The Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis Reconsidered

ABSTRACT This study analyses the environmental impact of African countries' integration into global value chains (GVCs) following the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. A panel dataset of 39 countries for 1990–2018 is used to test the classic EKC hypothesis and a global approach to EKC (GEKC), where total GVC participation per capita is introduced as a central explanatory variable. The analysis uses dynamic fixed‐effects models with country and year fixed effects to account for emissions persistence. The results do not provide consistent evidence supporting the traditional EKC. Instead, significant nonlinear GVC–emissions associations emerge in the full sample and among low‐GVC countries, while no significant relationship is detected among high‐GVC countries. The study contributes by linking GVC integration to emissions trajectories beyond income growth alone. These findings suggest that the environmental implications of GVC integration are not uniform across African economies and depend on the degree of integration into global production networks.