Abstract
This study examines the impact of industrial structure on carbon dioxide (CO
2
) emissions with emphasis on the activities of secondary and tertiary industries and the role of information and communication technologies and economic freedom. We focus on explaining consumption-based and territorial-based CO
2
emissions in a selection of African economies over the period 1995–2017, accounting for possible heterogeneity in the distribution of both measures of CO
2
emissions using the Method of Moments Quantile Regression approach for handling fixed effects in panel quantile models. The results show that (i) industrial output increase territorial-based CO
2
emissions and have stronger impact in countries with more extractive industries; (ii) services reduce consumption-based CO
2
emissions and the impact is significant across the entire quantile distribution; (iii) the use of fixed (wired) and analogue telephone technologies increases consumption-based and territorial-based CO
2
emissions and the impact is stronger at the upper quantile distribution; (iv) the use of mobile telephone and internet technologies reduces consumption-based and territorial-based CO
2
emissions and the impact is stronger at the upper quantile distribution; (v) increased economic freedom decreases territorial-based CO
2
emissions and the impact is stronger at the upper quantile distribution. Overall, our findings highlight the role of mobile telephone and internet penetration, restructuring towards service-based economy and economic freedom in promoting cleaner production and sustainable consumption patterns in African economies.