Department
Economics and Finance
Dr. Regret Sunge is a Facilitator in the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of the Free State, Qwaqwa Campus. He is also a Post Doctoral Research Fellow attached to the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) working on a project "Exploring intersections between economic systems, poverty, and sustainability in marginal mountain communities". Dr Sunge has 10 yearsof lecturing experience, earned with Great Zimbabwe University in the Department of Economics. He teaches several undergraduate modules (including micro and macroeconomics, mathematics for economists, monetary economics) and postgraduate modules (including advanced macroeconomics, advanced monetary economics, advanced economics research and econometrics, and computer applications). He has supervised more than 20 undergraduate students and 8 and postgraduate research projects and published four articles from the latter.
Dr Sunge is an active researcher, with 28 articles and 3 book chapters with an increasing Scopus and Web of Science h-index. His research focuses on development economics, inclining towards international trade, agriculture economics, environmental economics, and productivity and efficiency analysis. He has presented at 7 international conferences. Dr. Sunge is one of the 10-member Young Economists Network (YEN) working on a project "Models supporting average of 10% economic growth in Africa under the United Nations Economic Commision for Africa. (UN-ECA). Furthermore, he is a research assistant for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the African Union Commission (AUC) annual chapter on Southern Africa for their annual African Development Dynamics (AfDD) publication.
Publications
Publications (Short List)
1. Mudzingiri, C., Mudiriza, G., Jana, G., Sunge, R (2024). The effect of local climatic conditions on household consumption: a case study of South Africa. Humanities and Social Science Communications. 11, 652. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03167-2.
2. Espoir, DK., Sunge, R., Mduduzi, B., Bannor, F. (2024). Intra-Africa Agricultural Trade, Governance Quality and Agricultural Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from a Panel Vector Autoregressive Model. The European Journal of Development Research, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-024-00637-w.
3. Espoir, DK., Sunge, R., Mduduzi, B., Bannor, F., Matsvai, S. (2024). Analysing the response of CO2 emissions to business cycle in a developing economy: evidence for South Africa post-apartheid era. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 11, DOI10.3389/fenvs.2023.1321335.
4. Espoir, D.K, Sunge, R., Nchofoung, T., Alola, A.A. (2023). Analysing the drivers of ecological footprint in Africa with machine learning algorithm. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 104(107332). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2023.107332.
5. Sunge, R., & Mudzingiri, C. (2023). A Systematic Literature Review on Migration and Remittances in Mountainous Regions: Key Takeaways for Phuthaditjhaba, Free State, South Africa. Sustainability, 15(19), 14621. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914621.
6. Espoir, D.K., Sunge, R. & Bannor, F. (2023). Exploring the dynamic effect of economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions in Africa: evidence from panel PMG estimator. Environmental Science Pollution Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-30108-4.
7. Espoir, D. K., Mudiangombe, B. M., Sunge, R., & Alola, A. A. (2023). Spatial analysis of carbon emission effect of financial development in Africa: The role of energy and socioeconomic factors. Energy & Environment, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305X231188101.
8. Ngepah N and Sunge R (2023). Agricultural expenditure and agricultural total factor productivity growth in South Africa. AIMS Agriculture and Food, 8(2), 637-661. https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/agrfood.2023035.
9. Shumba, T., Sakuhuni, R.C., and Sunge, R (2023). An analysis on the impact of government budget deficits on economic performance. A Zimbabwean perspective 1980-2018. Research Journal of Economic and Management Studies.
10. Espoir, K, D., Sunge, R, and Alola, A.A. (2023). Time-varying causality nexus of (non)renewable electricity utilization, real output, and carbon emission among selected African states. Environment, Development and Sustainability. 10.1007/s10668-023-02934-6.
11. Espoir, K.D, Sunge, R, and Bannor, F. (2023). Economic growth, renewable and nonrenewable electricity consumption: Fresh evidence from a panel sample of African countries. Energy Nexus, 9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nexus.2022.100165.
12. Sunge R. (2022). COVID-19 and Trade in Zimbabwe: An Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Analysis. African Review of Economics and Finance, 15, 1-17.
13. Sunge R and Ngepah, N (2022). Agricultural Trade Liberalisation and Agricultural Total Factor Productivity Growth Convergence in Africa. Research in Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, 2(9), 71-88.DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/ralf.v9i2.61612.
14. Sunge. R and Ngepah, N (2022). Agricultural Trade Liberalisation, Agricultural Total Factor Productivity Growth and Food Security in Africa. Agrekon, 61(3), 292-313, https://doi.org/10.1080/03031853.2022.2066551.
15. Sunge R. (2021). Essays in agricultural trade liberalisation, agricultural total factor productivity, and food security in Africa. University of Johannesburg, Thesis, School of Economics and Econometrics.https://hdl.handle.net/10210/485548.
16. Espoir, K, D and Sunge, R. (2021). Co2 Emissions and Economic Development in Africa: Evidence from a Dynamic Spatial Panel Model. Journal of Environmental Management, 300: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113617.
17. Espoir, K, D, Mudiangombe, B, Bannor,F,Sunge, R, and Jean-Luc Mubenga Tshitaka. (2021) Co2 emissions and economic growth: Assessing the heterogeneous effects across climate regimes in Africa. Science of the Total Environment, 804: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150089.
18. Makumbe C, Sunge R and Zivanomoyo (2020). Zimbabwean Commercial Banks Performance under Multi-Currency System. A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis. African Finance Journal, 22(2), 40-51. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-finj-v22-n2-a3.
19. Sunge, R and Ngepah N (2020). The Impact of Agricultural Trade Liberalization on Agricultural Total Factor Productivity Growth in Africa. International Economic Journal, 34(4): https://doi.org/10.1080/10168737.2020.1836671.
20. Sunge, R and Ngepah N (2019). Agricultural trade liberalization, regional trade agreements and agricultural technical efficiency in Africa. Outlook on Agriculture, . 49(1), 66-76 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727019870551.
Mountain Economics
Economic systems, poverty, resilience, and vulnerability
Environmental economics
Climate change, ecological, footprint, and sustainability
Agriculture and Livestock production
Production systems, livelihoods, and food security
1. Economic Systems and Microeconomics
2. Introduction to Macroeconomics
Economic Analyst on Radio Stations