International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.