Natural Resource Wealth and Access to Clean Cooking Technologies in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study examines both linear and non‐linear relationships between natural resource rents and access to clean cooking technologies in Sub‐Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2024. It employs the Driscoll‐Kraay and the two‐step system GMM estimators to address cross‐sectional dependence and endogeneity. The findings reveal a complex relationship: negative linear and positive non‐linear associations. The positive non‐linear linkage suggests that as natural resource rents increase, reaching a potential threshold, the relationship reverses, with resource abundance becoming positively associated with access to clean cooking technologies. Robustness checks examining regional differences in access to clean cooking technologies show that the findings remain consistent across both rural and urban areas. Additionally, the study indicates that rents from oil, gas, minerals, coal, and forests are associated with higher levels of access to clean cooking technologies in a non‐linear manner. This non‐linear relationship across all types of resource rents highlights a turning point where rising and sustained resource rents become positively associated with greater adoption of clean cooking technologies, supporting the resource blessing hypothesis. Based on these findings, policy efforts should aim to strategically convert natural resource wealth into a driving force for inclusive energy access, particularly by promoting clean cooking technologies.