Convergence in Access to Clean Cooking Fuels Across Selected African Economies: Implications for Health and Environmental Sustainability

Convergence in Access to Clean Cooking Fuels Across Selected African Economies: Implications for Health and Environmental Sustainability | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Convergence in Access to Clean Cooking Fuels Across Selected African Economies: Implications for Health and Environmental Sustainability Simeon Olatunde, Abdulkareem Alhassan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7949570/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigates convergence in access to clean cooking fuels across twelve African economies which include Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Cameroon, DR Congo, South Africa, Botswana, Morocco, Egypt, Mauritius, and Madagascar between 2000 and 2022. Using Phillips and Sul’s club convergence approach with World Bank World Development Indicators data, the results show a positive and statistically significant β coefficient (0.3965), confirming a shared long-run convergence toward improved access to clean cooking fuels across twelve African economies, albeit at varying speeds. Trend plots and heat maps reveal persistent regional disparities, with high-access countries in Northern and Southern Africa and low-access countries in Central and East Africa. The transition path reveals the need for targeted policies tailored to each country's trajectory group. From a health perspective, expanding access rate reduces indoor air pollution and related respiratory diseases. Environmentally, it mitigates deforestation, preserves carbon sinks, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. The findings suggest the importance of differentiated strategies to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 while advancing public health and environmental resilience in Africa. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Clean Cooking Fuels Club Convergence Health Impacts Environmental Sustainability Africa Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 28 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 18 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 16 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Nov, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 25 Nov, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 22 Nov, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 10 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 10 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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