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There has been increasing studies that details the transmission channels through which financial development permeates to speed up growth to higher echelon. Studies have underpinned that financial development yield more growth when these channels are optimized. With studies on real sector performance sparse, this paper contributes to this discussion as it examined the effect of financial development in fostering industrial growth under the condition of high and low human capital endowment. This was investigated for a sample of five (5) West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) countries from 1990 to 2022. The study developed a panel threshold regression (PTR) model where human capital functioned as threshold variable and data collected from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Development Indicator (WDI) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) databases. The study finds a threshold effect of financial development on industrial sector growth. The PTR estimator shows financial development can produce more industrial growth if human capital exceeds a gross of 62.9493%. Additionally, other factors such as trade openness, natural resource rents and higher labour participation in economic activities support industrial sector growth. In the design of industrial growth enhancing policies, policy mandarins should implement measures that improve human capital and further develop the financial system by scaling up education expenditure to the UNESCO prescribed 26% of GDP, educating women, leveraging technology to improve human capital productivity and outcomes, reducing loan collateral requirements, strengthening legal frameworks, and boosting banking competition by allowing entrant of capitalized financial institutions and timely exist of insolvent ones.

This study investigates the validity of Thirlwall’s Law in Nigeria, examining whether balance-of-payments constraints affects economic growth in Nigeria. Utilizing annual data from 1980 to 2020, the analysis employs an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to estimate the income elasticity of imports and tests for cointegration to verify long-term equilibrium relationships. Findings reveal that Nigeria’s income elasticity of import demand exceeds unity, suggesting that income growth significantly heightens import dependency, which exacerbates balance-of-payments pressures. The results confirm Thirlwall’s hypothesis, indicating that Nigeria’s growth is constrained by its current account position. This study contributes to the literature by applying Thirlwall’s Law to a resource-dependent developing economy with high import reliance and limited export diversification. Key policy recommendations include the adoption of an import-substitution strategy to bolster domestic production in high-demand sectors, alongside export diversification efforts to reduce external dependency. These findings underscore the urgent need for structural reforms to stabilize the balance of payments and promote sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.

This paper investigates the asymmetric exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) to inflation in Nigeria. The study employed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) models from 2010Q1 to 2024Q2. The analysis incorporates key policy changes, such as the 2023 exchange rate unification, and explores both the short- and long-run impacts of exchange rate fluctuations on food and headline inflation. In particular, the study highlights the response and pass-through periods of exchange rate shocks, with depreciation demonstrating a stronger and more immediate effect on inflation than on appreciation. Results reveal that exchange rate depreciation exerts significant cost-push pressures, with a pass-through effect observed within 3 to 4 quarters, while the effect of appreciation is weaker and more prolonged. This asymmetry is especially pronounced for food inflation, where the dependency on imported goods accelerates the transmission of exchange rate shocks to consumer prices. The study also finds that cumulative depreciation has a much more pronounced effect on inflation. At the same time, appreciation offers minimal relief, reflecting Nigeria’s vulnerability to exchange rate volatility due to its reliance on imports. The findings show the importance of managing exchange rate fluctuations to control inflation, particularly given the asymmetry in how depreciation and appreciation affect prices. By providing a comprehensive analysis of both long- and short-run dynamics, this study contributes to the understanding of ERPT in Nigeria, offering insights for policymakers to implement targeted interventions to mitigate inflationary pressures in the context of exchange rate instability.

This paper explores the nonlinear dynamics relationship between petroleum product prices and inflation in Nigeria. By focusing on the role of exchange rate fluctuations in amplifying the relationships, the paper employs a multiplicative interaction approach to address the nonlinear effects of petroleum prices on inflation. Utilizing data from 2016: Q1 to 2024: Q2 from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Central Bank of Nigeria, the study introduces interaction terms to capture how petroleum prices and exchange rates interact to influence inflation. The methodology includes static and dynamic panel estimators, with a focus on the within effect model to account for unobserved state-specific factors. Key findings reveal that AGO and PMS prices significantly drive both headline and food inflation, while DPK's impact varies, and GAS shows minimal effect. The study highlights those geographical factors—proximity to seaports and fuel depots—significantly influence inflationary pressures. States closer to these facilities experience lower inflation due to reduced distribution costs. This suggests that policies aimed at partial subsidization for states farther from key infrastructure could mitigate regional inflation disparities. The findings contribute to the understanding of inflation dynamics, emphasizing the need for targeted policy interventions tailored to regional economic conditions in Nigeria.

Trade liberalization is a widely accepted policy for fostering economic growth, particularly in developing countries. Advocates argue that open economies, through increased competition, specialization, and access to global markets, outperform closed economies. However, the short-term effects on developing economies like Nigeria remain debated, especially within the manufacturing sector. Nigeria's trade policy has fluctuated between protectionism and openness, significantly influencing its manufacturing performance. Critics, drawing from dependency theory, argue that liberalization exposes weaker economies to exploitation by stronger nations, leading to trade imbalances and inhibiting industrial growth. This study investigates the nonlinear effects of trade liberalization on Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, addressing a gap in the literature by employing a quadratic approach to determine threshold effects. By incorporating a quadratic form of the trade variable, the study tests the hypothesis that trade liberalization initially boosts the manufacturing sector but results in diminishing returns as openness intensifies. The research is framed within the Laffer Curve of Trade, suggesting that beyond a certain threshold, excessive openness may harm the manufacturing sector. The AutoRegressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is used to assess both short-run and long-run effects, with findings indicating a convex relationship between trade liberalization and manufacturing output, highlighting the critical importance of identifying optimal policy thresholds to maximize industrial growth. 

The study contributes to the literature on propane's prospects and viability for off-grid energy, implications for stakeholders, and alignment with sustainable energy goal 7. It examines the prospects of propane-powered off-grid electricity in the Nigerian electricity supply industry (NESI). The study assessed propane’s economic viability and environmental implications as a replacement for diesel (AGO). Specifically, the analyses included comparative levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), net present value (NPV) modeling, Monte Carlo simulations, and carbon emissions estimation. The study found that the cost of energy from diesel (AGO) is 1.52 to 2.86 times of grid MYTO tariffs and 1.84 to 3.92 times of the MYTO tariffs for All-in LCOE. The average total LCOEs were 1.01 to 1.63 times for the commercial bank and 1.02 to 1.63 times for the residential estate. The LCOEs for the AGO generators ranged from $0.183 to $0.286 (fuel only) and $0.335 to $0.392 per kWh all-in. These comparative LCOEs are between 110% and 263.8% of the electricity tariff averages in the US (residential: $0.155/kWh and commercial: $0.127/kWh) and the UK (£0.245/kWh) and, accordingly, confirm the expensive nature of AGO-based electricity in Nigeria. Furthermore, the study found that propane-based off-grid energy is a viable substitute for AGO and cheaper than the current Band A tariff of N206.80KWh, with savings between 10.52% and 45.25%. The study also shows that propane is a cleaner and more efficient source of energy that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 13.8% and as high as 31.1% depending on the generator-load match efficiency with the associated monetized savings between $9.18 and $20.62 per MT CO2e. The study recommends government incentives and private sector investments towards adopting propane for off-grid electricity, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, achieving Nigeria’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) plan, and promoting sustainable development.  

This paper use the dynamic growth framework to model the relationship between trade liberalization policy and economic growth of 42 African countries from 1995 to 2018. Banking on the heterogeneity of income and socioeconomic factor affecting trade policies in African countries, the paper opted for the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) technique which is sufficient for inference in a dynamic heterogeneous environment. The result tells that trade liberalization policy is beneficial to economic growth of African countries up to a certain threshold, beyond which it begins to cause the economy to under-heat. Thus, a confirmation of nonlinear relationship between trade liberalization policy and economic growth in African countries. The paper estimates a threshold value of 139.94% of total Trade to GDP; 345.32% of Export to GDP and 62.80% of Import to GDP. These findings champion that, for countries in Africa to benefit largely from trade, trade openness, export openness, and import openness should rover around the estimated threshold values. The paper documents certain conditions required to moderate the effect of trade liberalization policy on economic growth in African countries.

This paper examined bank-specific performance indicators and macroeconomic factors affecting the short-term financing obligation of Nigerian banks from 2010 to 2019. The data for the study are sourced annually from the financial statements of the selected Deposit Money Banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin. The panel unit root and co-integration tests are employed to ascertain the sustainability of the bank-specific performance indicators. The models for the industry were cast in a host of panel frameworks such that we estimated the static and dynamic panel models. The study observed that the capital adequacy ratio, which is the short-term financing obligation of Nigerian banks was elastic to bank profitability positively. In addition, interbank call rate, bank size, and oil price positively influence the capital adequacy ratio over time, whereas loan-to-deposit ratio, inflation and exchange rate exacerbate the capital adequacy ratio. Consequently, we canvass that Nigerian banks should reduce dividend payouts and increase retained profits as a buffer against exposed risks.

Financial product awareness is an efficient remedy for poverty reduction as against lack of money. However, a holistic literature on financial product awareness in the six Geo-Political Zone of Nigeria is scarce. Using data from a quarterly survey of households in Nigeria, this paper investigated the influence of financial literacy, Socioeconomic and demographic factors on saving behaviors of Nigerians, age 15 to 70. With a pool of methods, our finding supported the observation from similar economies, but revealed some differences as well. We observed that financial literacy and proximity to financial products and services among others are the most significant determinants of savings behaviors of Nigerians. It is fair to say financial awareness and factors that influences it are necessary for the formulation of strategies to increase the inclusion of more members of the society into the formal financial stream.

This paper investigated how oil revenue and the activities in the oil industry affected the size of income accrue to each Nigerian (Per capita income) from 1980 to 2019. The variables were sourced from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI), OPEC Statistics, Baker Hughes Rig Count and the central bank of Nigeria statistical bulletin. Using the AutoRegressive Distributional Lag (ARDL) we observed that explorative activities of crude oil in Nigeria positively impacted the size of individual income. The magnitude of the impact was massive irrespective of time; a 1% increase in exploration increases the size of individual income by 0.4786% in the long run and 0.6030% in the short run. The interaction of rigs by output (interaction of rig-count and oil-production) negatively impacted the size of individual income. This implies that the size of individual income in Nigeria is sensitive to the nature of the explorative environment of the Nigerian oil industry.

There is a pool of techniques and methods in addressing dynamics behaviors in higher frequency data, prominent among them is the ARCH/GARCH techniques. In this paper, the various types and assumptions of the ARCH/GARCH models were tried in examining the dynamism of exchange rate and international crude oil prices in Nigeria. And it was observed that the Nigerian foreign exchange rates behaviors did not conform with the assumptions of the ARCH/GARCH models, hence this paper adopted Lag Variables Autoregressive (LVAR) techniques originally developed by Agung and Heij multiplier to examine the dynamic response of the Nigerian foreign exchange rates to crude oil prices. The Heij coefficient was used to calculate the dynamic multipliers while the Engel & Granger two-step technique was used for cointegration analysis.  The results revealed an insignificant dynamic long-term response of the exchange rate to crude oil prices within the periods under review. The coefficient of dynamism was insignificantly in most cases of the sub-periods. The paper equally revealed that the significance of the dynamic multipliers depends greatly on external information about both market indicators which are two-way interactions. Thus, the paper recommends periodic intervention in the foreign exchange market by the monetary authorities to stabilize the market against any shocks in the international crude oil market, since crude oil is the main source of foreign exchange in Nigeria.

This paper is driven by the vast influence oil money have on the current account balance of major oil producing countries in Africa and the role policy measures could play to soften these effects. Dwelling on the nonlinear techniques, two types of Threshold Regression were used to estimate data on 8 African countries from 1995-2019. The results show evidence of nonlinear impacts of oil revenue on the current account balances of the 8 countries. The nature of the impact relies significantly on the levels of the threshold variable. Precisely, the estimated threshold benchmark for financial development was 33.34; below this threshold the sensitivity of current account balance to crude-oil shocks is higher and the probability of policy measures to mitigate the effects is low and, beyond the threshold the sensitivity of current account balance to crude-oil shocks is low and the probability of policy measure to mitigate the effects is higher. The finding suggested among others that crude-oil shocks is not the primary problem of the current account imbalance of oil-exporting countries rather the nature of the domestic economic policy environment.

The improvement in the standard of living of citizenry is beyond lack of money but the poverty to access financial instruments and means to financial platforms. Such that lack of access to financial instruments and services is a major veritable channel for poverty amplification in the society. This paper examines the relationship between Mobile Money Operations (MMOs) and Financial Inclusion in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The paper also analysis the trends of the instruments of financial inclusion and MMOs in Nigeria from 2012 to 2019. The primary and secondary were data sourced and analyzed with the Net Balance Methods, Instruments of inferential and descriptive statistics. The survey results show a visual cycle of higher number of respondents with secondary school qualifications and less which have led to low income and an ineffective participation to mobile money and financial inclusions in the rural areas. We equally observed that poor internet and mobile networks, epileptic power supply, unclear economic policies among others are major setback for the insignificant relationship between MMOs and financial inclusion in the Niger Delta region. This implies that the growth of mobile banking and financial inclusions to facilitate financial system soundness and enhances economic growth and development required more motivations from institutions other than the financial institutions; as a ways of encouraging increased Nigerians participation. Base on the result the paper can assumes that the financial system has provided the needed instrument for citizen participation but the social and economic conditions of the country is the bottleneck for financial inclusions.

It is observed that despite the legislative endorsement of the West Africa Countries there is still a glaring divergence in economic structures, which impedes the performance to realize macroeconomic convergence and economic growth within the region. This paper investigated the effects of trade and financial indexes in WAMZ on economic growth. The paper uses three variables and a host of control measures to focus on six countries of WAMZ covering the periods of 2001-2018. Given the heterogeneous nature of the information gathered for the study, the models are cast in static and dynamic panel frameworks that provided micro-structure for the combined data analysis. The models were tested with various econometric and statistical instruments. Results from the analysis show that exported trade is highly concentrated to fewer goods, while imported trade is concentrated on more products and partners; that is, countries in WAMZ tend to shadow liberal import policy. The weak link was also noticed among financial and trade indexes and economic growth in the WAMZ economies. The implications call for short term economic plans and policies in the WAMZ economies so as to collectively monitor economic policies and growth. We equally observed that the structures of the economies in the region are heterogeneous making it rather difficult for regional trade and financial indicators to accelerate output growth in the region. Thus our basic postulations are an inter-policy approach on social, political and economic (trade and finance) arrangements that would neutralize the heterogeneity and foster institutional and attitudinal reforms, eliminate insecurity challenges, and spur political stability and responsible leadership within the regions.

The study examined the dynamic responses of profitability indexes to capital adequacy ratios of authorized internationalized deposit money banks in Nigeria. The data were sourced from the financial year books of the deposit money banks and analyzed with static and dynamic panel estimators. The static estimator shows that the banks have differences in managerial style, size and profitability. Also, it was revealed that return on asset and return on equity responded positively to asset size, efficiency of the use of asset and current ratio in the static models and they were highly significant. However, they were insignificant in the dynamic specifications except asset size that was significant in the return on asset model showing a weak dynamic response of profitability to capital adequacy ratios. Hence the study recommended that Banks should improve their share based as to increase the asset as this will improve profitability.

This paper investigated the impact of tax revenue on private domestic investment in Nigeria from 1980 to 2018 using the modified ordinary least squares- Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL). The paper used oil revenue, non-oil revenue, and Corporate Income Tax (CIT) as the independent variables while Private Domestic Investment (PDI) is the dependent variable. Oil revenue and non-oil revenue were used as a proxy for oil and non-oil tax. These data were obtained from secondary sources- central Bank of Nigeria, World Bank database and Federal Inland Revenue service statistical bulletin. The result showed that a long-run relationship exists between the aforementioned variables. Also, the paper revealed that oil and non-oil do not have a significant impact on PDI but CIT has a positive and significant impact on PDI. The paper recommends that proper measures/reforms should be put in place in order to reduce the impact of tax on private domestic investment in Nigeria.

This paper investigated this disparity in the literature using Nigeria data from 1980 to 2016. In doing this, energy consumption was disaggregated, and their impacts on economic growth investigated using a modified Ordinary Least Square technique which allows for time gaps in the model. It was observed that only renewable energy impacted on economic growth in the long-run whereas non-renewable energy component impacted on economic growth in the short-run. Therefore, the study sees the impact of energy consumption on economic growth to be indistinct in Nigeria within the period under review. This further buttresses the need for improvement in electricity production and distribution in Nigeria. Given the importance of energy consumption on productivity, the study, therefore, suggests policies/measures that will bring about increasing the supply or improvement of energy production in the country.

This paper x-rayed the concept, measurement and, patterns of economic development. In doing this, the paper reviewed a vast literature on concepts, measurement of economic development and, economic development patterns and their effects on growth indicators as well as on the quality of life components. This literature was sourced from known academic databases. From the overview of the concept, measurement of economic development and, economic development patterns and their relationship between growth indicators as well as the quality of life components the following were found; as new challenges emerge, the horizon of the concept of economic development expands to accommodate the prevailing challenges. Economic development has no conventional measure/indicator that completely captures it process and, there are various economic development patterns use in tackling the problem of economic growth and quality of life, some of which are; knowledge-based, trade-based, saving-based and ethnic-religious-based pattern. Future studies may use these concepts/measurements of economic development and patterns of economic development and, validate their significance using statistical methods.

Agriculture is the bedrock for combating poverty and developing rural areas. This motivated government policies on agriculture. This paper evaluated the performance of Fadama III in addressing food productivity and rural development in Rivers State. A critical review of secondary materials from Rivers State National Fadama III Development Programme Coordinating Office Report on implementation of National Fadama III projects in Rivers State formed the methodology for the study. It revealed the concept, approaches and implementation process of economic interest groups and government financial commitments to various farming activities in the local government areas. There were remarkable improvements in rural development in the participated local government areas. The assessment further revealed committed efforts by officers and management of the program which ensured effective implementation of rural infrastructure in participated communities. It is recommended that expenditure control measures adopted by the management of fadama program in Rivers State should be applied in future agricultural projects to ensure quality deliverables. The government should pursue only rural development-oriented agricultural policies, and finance projects that have certified Local Development Plans. Seemingly bottleneck criterion that would delay the release of funds should be relaxed for agricultural program managers to be proactive to beneficiaries’ requests and function effectively. Finally, the fadama program should be extended to increase communities’ dual opportunities of experiencing both agricultural and rural development.

This research analyzed the insurance industry and economic growth in Nigeria between 1980 and 2015. Secondary data ranging from real gross domestic product, the premium of the insurance business, claim expenditure of insurance industry and inflation rate were utilized and sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple regression techniques, Descriptive statistics, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test of stationarity and ARDL Bound Test Co-Integration were adopted for the model in the Study. The findings revealed that the premium of the insurance industry (PMI) impacts negatively on economic growth both in the extended and short run period. The claim expenditure of the insurance industry (CEX) revealed a progressive relationship with economic growth in the long run and a negative relation with growth in the short run. We therefore conclude following the Keynesian theory of aggregate demand which states that, ‘’if we will have to wait till the long run, we will all be dead’’, that insurance industry in Nigeria has not impacted positively on economic growth of Nigeria within the period under review and its operations and investment have not been prominent and contributory to the growth and development of Nigeria. Based on these outcomes, we recommend amongst others, that more investment ought to be made towards the insurance industry in Nigeria especially in terms of proper policy formulation by the government that would channel funds and encourage competition among the players in the industry and invariably contribute to the growth of the economy.