Countries need to explore novel strategies that support environmental sustainability while preserving economic stability, even as they struggle with the effects of climate change and the depletion of natural resources. This study aims to analyze how investment and technological innovation interact with oil and natural resource rents to affect environmental sustainability in MENA countries. Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) was adopted in the study because it offers unbiased, accurate, and efficient estimators of long-term connections by taking endogeneity bias and serial correlation into account. The panel cointegration tests confirm the long-term cointegration relationship among the variables. According FMOLS estimate approach, globalization, investment, oil revenue, natural resource rents, and technological innovations all contribute to a decline in environmental sustainability through an increase in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Economic growth has a favorable effect on environmental sustainability (lowering CO2 emissions). In addition, the interaction of oil and natural resource rents with investment improves environmental sustainability by reducing CO₂ emissions. On the other hand, there was a negative impact on environmental sustainability when technological advancements and oil rents interacted. To achieve environmental sustainability in the MENA area, a comprehensive policy approach is needed, including encouraging clean investment, reinvesting oil returns in green innovation, and reorganizing the economy to focus on environmentally friendly industries. By utilizing innovative technology to improve resource extraction and consumption efficiency, the adverse environmental impacts of natural resource exploitation can be mitigated.

Shari’ah (Islamic law) governance has drawn considerable interest in the past few decades in an effort to enhance the outcomes and prolonged success of banks that follow the Islamic banking system. There is widespread awareness that Shari’ah governance enhances public trust in the integrity, management, and business functioning of Islamic banks and prevents any financial crisis that could affect the performance of banks. The current study has a primary objective to analyze the influence of Shari’ah Supervisory Board (SSB) characteristics upon the financial performance of the banks that follow the Islamic banking system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) based on features possessed by the SSB. The data considered for the period spans between 2013 and 2022 and focuses on four fully-fledged Islamic banks operating in the KSA. The Authors collected the annual reports of the banks to extract the financial data and analyzed it under descriptive statistical analysis. Further, an ordinary least square regression model was also applied in this study. The analytical outcomes reveal that the independence and the experience of the Shari’ah board exert a remarkable influence on the financial performance of the Islamic banks whereas the size of the Shari’ah board has no significant influence to note. The study suggests that the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) should accelerate the incorporation of the Shari’ah governance framework in the banks that follow the Islamic banking system. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish a central SSB to coordinate the efforts of the committees of Saudi local banks and provide the necessary technical assistance for implementing optimal Shari’ah governance practices

Islamic banking is witnessing a significant increase in worldwide demand for its products alongside the increased interest in Sharīʿah governance, which is an essential means of ensuring that the products and activities of Islamic banking institutions fully comply with Sharīʿah (Islamic law), meet customer needs, and increase their competitiveness in both local and international markets. The aim of this paper is to evaluate Sharīʿah governance practices in Saudi Arabian banks and also ‎examine the level of adherence to Sharīʿah governance principles, institutional ‎frameworks, regulatory standards, and procedures within Saudi banks. This paper ‎employs a descriptive analysis approach, while the data were collected through a ‎questionnaire survey from 95 members of Sharīʿah advisory boards, Sharīʿah groups, and Sharīʿah governance committees ‎in 11 banks operating in Saudi Arabia. A regression analysis was performed to estimate relationships between the level of compliance and commitment to Sharīʿah governance in Saudi banks as a dependent variable, and the implementation of Sharīʿah governance, its dimensions, and the availability of implementing procedures of Sharīʿah governance as independent variables. The findings confirm the existence of variations between banks at ‎the level of implementing Sharīʿah governance principles and standards. The dimensions ‎of Sharīʿah governance received varying levels of attention in the banks, with ‎organizational structure ranking first, followed by the dimensions of responsibility and ‎disclosure, and finally, control, auditing, and accountability. The study reveals ‎disparities in the implementation levels of Sharīʿah governance between banks with full-fledged Sharīʿah compliance and conventional banks that offer Islamic windows. ‎Additionally, the study indicates differences in the adequacy of implementing ‎procedures for Sharīʿahgovernance principles and standards in both types of Saudi banks, attributed ‎to variations in bank size, product type, and organizational structure. The results of ‎the regression analysis demonstrate that the ‎implementation of Sharīʿah governance dimensions and the availability of implementing ‎procedures have a statistically positive effect on the level of commitment to Islamic banking and Sharīʿah governance. The paper suggests a necessity for training personnel in Islamic ‎banking, activating the role of Sharīʿah compliance units, and developing the ‎Sharīʿah governance framework in Islamic banking operations in Saudi Arabia.

The current study analyzes the relationship between Sudan's income growth and exports from 1970 to 2020. The system of equations using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach has been employed. The ARDL results showed that there exists a long-run relationship between the variables considered in the estimated model. The researchers observed a negative lagged error-correction term coefficient, which is highly significant in all cases supporting cointegration. The result reveals the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between GDP, export, import, labor force, and trade policy. This confirms that the export-led growth hypothesis is valid for Sudan. Thus, the most essential conclusion is that the economy’s export expansion strategy is completely dependent on the imports of raw materials and capital inputs and the kind of goods being exported. The coefficient of import is of significance, which offers strong support for the import compression hypothesis. The most important policy implication of the findings is the implementation of an appropriate and optimal approach that can boost exports to increase economic growth substantially. Policy-makers should focus on export diversification strategies and invest more in Sudan’s ability to provide value-added services to meet international export demand.

Purpose: This study examined the empirical relationship between human capital and economic growth across eight Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 1990 to 2022. Theoretical Framework: This study examined the relationship between human capital and economic growth by applying the Cobb-Douglas production function within the framework of the neoclassical Solow growth model. The study considers fixed assets as a measure of physical capital and school enrollment as a proxy for human capital. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study employed the pooled mean group (PMG) estimator within a panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to analyze human capital variables' short- and long-run impacts on economic growth in SSA countries. Findings: The findings provided strong empirical evidence of significant short- and long-term relationships between the variables. The long-run analysis demonstrates that human capital positively influences economic growth. Additionally, in the short-run, fixed assets, human capital, and labor were found to positively and significantly impact economic growth. Research Implications: This study emphasizes the importance of focusing on education and skill training sectors to enhance human capital development in emerging African countries. Originality/Value: This study demonstrates that human capital variables positively impact economic growth in SSA countries in both the short- and long-run. Consequently, this study underscores the role of human capital as a critical and influential factor in promoting economic growth in emerging SSA countries. It also contributes valuable insights for policymakers and adds to the existing literature in this area.

The main objective of this study is to examine the effects of oil prices on the trade balance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period 1980–2022. In this context, oil prices are analyzed to determine their impact on improving Saudi Arabia’s trade balance in both the short and long term. This is achieved using the bounds testing to cointegration approach and the error correction model (ECM), which both measure short- and long-run equilibrium relationships between variables. The results of this study confirm a statistically significant positive relationship between oil prices and the trade balance in the short and long term. However, these findings confirm the country's reliance on the oil sector. The most important contribution of this study lies in its focus on the effects of oil prices on Saudi Arabia’s trade balance, as the largest oil producer and net exporter. It also offers policy implications that address the negative effects of fluctuations in international oil prices on the trade balance.