Modeling ICT adoption and electricity consumption in emerging digital economies: Insights from the West African Region

This study investigates the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on electricity consumption in West Africa, employing a dynamic panel data model. The results show a significant long-term positive effect of ICT adoption on electricity consumption. Notably, internet connections increase the demand for electricity, with estimates ranging from 13.4 % to 19.3 %. While mobile phone subscriptions demonstrate modest positive effect of 6.85 %, personal computer ownership appears to have a negligible impact. The study contributes to the existing literature by offering a detailed examination of the distinct effects of different ICT components on electricity consumption, incorporating a novel estimation approach and sensitivity analyses that account for the COVID-19 pandemic and the Anglo-French linguistic divide. What's more, the analysis constitutes an initial effort in the examining both short-term and long-term dynamics of the ICTelectricity relationship in West African region.