Abstract

This paper explores the impact of renewable energy on Angola's GDP and employment. The study used the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and error correction models with data on renewable energy use, gross domestic product, unemployment rate, industry employment, vulnerable employment, labor force participation rate and gross fixed capital formation. This note contributes to the existing literature by investigating the effects of renewable energy use on vulnerable employment in a single developing country like Angola. All the data gained stationarity at first differentiation. Our analysis revealed that renewable energy use shares a causal long-run relationship with the gross domestic product, unemployment rate, vulnerable employment, and labor force participation rate. The short-term analysis exhibits a causal one-way relationship ranging from renewable energy use to vulnerable employment, labor force participation rate, and gross fixed capital formation. Our findings suggest that renewable energy use will harm vulnerable employment and labor force participation rate but improve gross fixed capital formation in the short run. However, there is no significant relationship ranging from renewable energy use to industries' employment, GDP, and unemployment in the short term. Overcoming the mixed effects of using renewable energy on employment recommends investing in research and development of the renewable energy sector, which could add to the drop in unemployment and the quality of jobs. The country's leaders could draw inspiration from countries like the People's Republic of China, Brazil, and India. Infrastructure development, skills training, and technical support should be the primary emphasis of policy initiatives. In its sustainable development policy, the government must consider that investing in the agriculture sector might add to the country, whether for renewable energy production, agricultural productivity, or jobs creation. The country would benefit from accelerating industrialization while promoting renewable energy use and on-site processing of raw materials.

Key words: Renewable energy, economic growth, employment, Angola, Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL).