This study examined how green innovation (GIN), environmental governance (EGR), and renewable energy transition (RET) influence trade-adjusted resource footprints (proxied by material footprint, MFP) in the top 15 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 1970 to 2022. After confirming the cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity in the dataset, second-generation panel econometric techniques, including the cross-sectionally augmented Dickey–Fuller (CADF) unit root test and Kao cointegration test, were employed to establish stationarity and long-run equilibrium relationships. The Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) revealed heterogeneous effects across quantiles: GIN exhibited a positive impact on MFP, intensifying at higher quantiles (resource-intensive economies), while GDP per capita (GDPC) reduced MFP, with effects strengthening as quantiles raised. Conversely, EGR and RET exacerbated MFP across all quantiles, suggesting that governance and energy policies may inadvertently spur resource exploitation in SSA’s transitional economies. The Dumitrescu–Hurlin (D-H) causality test confirmed a unidirectional relationship from all independent variables to MFP, highlighting the need for integrated policies to decouple growth from material consumption. This suggests that while governance, innovation, and renewable energy transition influence resource footprints, MFP does not, in turn, impact these factors, reinforcing the importance of proactive policy interventions.