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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 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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.