Growth performance of Heteroclarias fed maggot meal at varying inclusion levels

70-day growth trial was conducted with Heteroclarias: Heterobranchus bidorsalis X Clarias gariepinus (mean weight 0.64~c0.006g) fed diets based on various inclusion levels of Maggot Meal. The fishmeal in the control diet was replaced with maggot meals at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% levels to supply 40% crude protein in the final diets. The trails were conducted in glass tanks (60cmx30cmx30cm). Evaluation of growth parameters and nutrient utilization of the fish was based on weight gains, protein intake, protein efficiency ratio, net protein utilization, feed conversion efficiency and carcass analysis. Best growth and feed conversion efficiency were obtained with the 75% dietary inclusion of maggot meal. There was no significant differences (P>0.055) between the group of fish on 50% and 75% dietary inclusion maggot meal in growth performance and protein efficiency ratio but, there was a significant (P<0.05) difference in the NPU (Net Protein Utilization) and protein gain between the control diet and those fed on maggot meals. There was no marked variation in the survival rate of fish on all diet

Monetary Policy and Share Pricing Business in Nigeria

The anatomy of Nigerian financial system is composed of the money and capital markets. Monetary policy is a framework used by the apex bank to regulate the flow of loanable funds in the economy, though the pricing of equity used by private investors to raise capital from the economy is carried out at the capital market end of the system. As earlier empirical studies have shown the relationship between monetary policy and stock market, this study provide a precise insight in the mechanism of interaction that co-exist between monetary policy and share pricing in Nigeria. The study identified money supply and interest rate (credit creation) as the main channels through which monetary policy influence sharing pricing in an open economy like Nigeria.Monetary Policy, Share Pricing, Monetary instruments, Money supply, Equity/capital market, money market, financial system, IPO pricing, Nigeria

Analysis of inflation and its determinants in Nigeria

The study critically analyzed the dynamic and simultaneous inter-relationship between inflation and its determinants in Nigeria between 1970 and 2007. The time series variables properties were examined using the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) unit root test and the result reveals that inflation rate, growth rate of real output and money supply, and real share of Fiscal deficit are stationary at levels, while other incorporated variables in the empirical analysis- real share of Import, Exchange rate and Interest rate-are stationary at first difference. The long-run and short-run mechanism of interaction between inflation and its determinants were examined usig the Augmented Engle-Granger (AEG) cointegration test and Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) model respectively.Inflation, determinants, unit root, cointegration, error correction model, Nigeria economy

Does Macroeconomic Indicators exert shock on the Nigerian Capital Market?

This study examines the long-run and short-run effect of macroeconomic variables on the Nigerian capital market between 1984 and 2007. The properties of the time series variables are examined using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and most of the variables have a unit root at level. The Augmented Engle-Granger Cointegration test revealed that macroeconomic variables exert significant long-run effect on stock market performance in Nigeria. Also, the employed Error Correction Model (ECM) showed that macroeconomic variables exert significant short-term shock on stock prices as a result of the stochastic error term mechanisms. However, the empirical analysis showed that the NSE all share index is more responsive to changes in exchange rate, inflation rate, money supply and real output. While, all the incorporated variables which serve as proxies for external shock and other macroeconomic indicators have simultaneous significant impact on the Nigerian capital market both in the short and long-run.Economic Shock; Macroeconomic Variables; Capital Market; Unit root and Cointegration.

The Impact of the Financial System and its Channels on SMES\u27 Access to Financing: A Nigerian Perspective

Several researchers have studied the catalytic influence of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on many countries\u27 economies. Its underwhelming impact on the Nigerian economy has also attracted some attention. This research aims to examine the effect of the financial system on SMEs\u27 access to financing and recommend changes to the financial system that will enhance SMEs\u27 access to funding in Nigeria. Thus, the research adopted a mixed-method approach. The quantitative analysis section used 18 years of aggregate national data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to determine the relationship between the financial system, the channel of distribution (the financial institutions), and SME access using regression analysis. In addition, 1,590 SMEs registered with the Small and Medium Enterprises Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in the three out of the six geographical zones of the country were surveyed based on density, spread, and randomization. The reliability and validity of the collected data were measured using exploratory Spearman rank correlation and Chi-square techniques. The qualitative analysis involved six semi-structured interviews with financial institution operators and regulators in Nigeria, using NVivo\u27s thematic analytical tools to draw the relationships from the interviewees\u27 perspectives. Metrics such as interest rate spread, bank concentration, bank overheads, credit to the private sector, information asymmetry, and risk perception were tested to establish the influence of the financial system on SMEs\u27 access to funding. The key findings from the empirical evidence include the direct and significant effect of interest rate spread, number of bank branches, and credit to the private sector. SMEs\u27 access to funding inhibiting factors includes business collaterals, high lending rates, and verifiable business financial information. At the same time, the promoters are the length of existence of the business, legal status, turnover or revenue, number of employees, and owners\u27 characteristics. The study shows that policy guidance that provides credit registry, credit guarantee, insurance, movable asset registry, dedicated or re-focused SMEs lending institution, SME ranking will reasonably de-risk SMEs\u27 risk assets portfolio and ameliorate credit rationing effect through the financial intermediation channel of distribution. In addition, financial institutions and SME owners can employ the findings to improve SMEs\u27 risk assets quality and access to funding success, respectively. Consequently, this empirical work establishes the relevance of channel of distribution theory (Levine, 2005) and the effects of credit rationing (Yu & Fu, 2021) on SMEs\u27 access to financing using the bank-based approach from the Nigerian perspective, and the emerging economies in general. The study incorporated the mediating role of financial institutions (Deposit Money Banks – DMBs and Non-Bank Financial Institutions – NBFIs) proxied by current and savings account balances and moderating role of credit rationing measured by borrowing interest rate. The application of this unique theoretical model and the resultant empirical integrated framework should potentially create a new domain of discussion for future researchers into SME funding in emerging markets

Development Finance Institutions in Nigeria: Structure, Roles and Assessment

The efficient channelling of funds and allocation of financial resources are roles expected to be undertaken in the financial system to facilitate productive growth in the real sector of the economy. There have been overlapping roles in the Nigerian financial system and this has resulted to inefficient intermediation and under-development of vibrant sectors of the economy. Thus, necessitated the emergence of development financial institutions to render services to the large un-catered economics agents (especially in the rural areas) by the universal banks. The institutions are expected to offer specialized and micro financial services, offer relative cheap and accessible financing options, provide long-term finance for infrastructure development, industrial growth, agriculture, small and medium enterprises (SME) development and provide financial products for certain sections of the people. However, this paper evaluates the roles and structure of the development financial institutions in Nigeria and also assesses their performance over time.Development Finance Institutions, Financial Institutions, Financial Intermediation, Real Sectors, Financial Services, Financial Products, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, Nigeria

Novel applications and contexts for the cognitive packet network

Autonomic communication, which is the development of self-configuring, self-adapting, self-optimising and self-healing communication systems, has gained much attention in the network research community. This can be explained by the increasing demand for more sophisticated networking technologies with physical realities that possess computation capabilities and can operate successfully with minimum human intervention. Such systems are driving innovative applications and services that improve the quality of life of citizens both socially and economically. Furthermore, autonomic communication, because of its decentralised approach to communication, is also being explored by the research community as an alternative to centralised control infrastructures for efficient management of large networks. This thesis studies one of the successful contributions in the autonomic communication research, the Cognitive Packet Network (CPN). CPN is a highly scalable adaptive routing protocol that allows for decentralised control in communication. Consequently, CPN has achieved significant successes, and because of the direction of research, we expect it to continue to find relevance. To investigate this hypothesis, we research new applications and contexts for CPN. This thesis first studies Information-Centric Networking (ICN), a future Internet architecture proposal. ICN adopts a data-centric approach such that contents are directly addressable at the network level and in-network caching is easily supported. An optimal caching strategy for an information-centric network is first analysed, and approximate solutions are developed and evaluated. Furthermore, a CPN inspired forwarding strategy for directing requests in such a way that exploits the in-network caching capability of ICN is proposed. The proposed strategy is evaluated via discrete event simulations and shown to be more effective in its search for local cache hits compared to the conventional methods. Finally, CPN is proposed to implement the routing system of an Emergency Cyber-Physical System for guiding evacuees in confined spaces in emergency situations. By exploiting CPN’s QoS capabilities, different paths are assigned to evacuees based on their ongoing health conditions using well-defined path metrics. The proposed system is evaluated via discrete-event simulations and shown to improve survival chances compared to a static system that treats evacuees in the same way.Open Acces

Emissions Trading: A Policy Option for Fighting Climate Change in Africa

This thesis shows how an emissions trading scheme can help African countries contribute to the goal of stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is done through an assessment of the gaps in Africa’s climate change mitigation policy architecture and the potential benefits of emissions trading as a policy instrument—including lessons learned from emissions trading schemes implemented in the US, the EU, New Zealand, and Chile. The thesis concludes that adopting an emissions trading scheme as a policy instrument in Africa could potentially close the gaps in its policy architecture

The prospects and challenges of the proposed carbon tax regime in South Africa: lessons from the Nigerian experience

One of the policy instruments canvassed for the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is carbon tax. Carbon tax- an economic instrument which levies taxes on the carbon content of goods and services, is increasingly getting popular among policy makers worldwide. South Africa is one of the countries with advanced plans to adopt carbon tax as a way of reducing and discouraging the emission of GHGs. This paper analyses the proposed carbon tax in the light of South Africa’s commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). What lessons can South Africa learn from a similar environmental tax regime previously adopted in Nigeria?Keywords: Carbon Tax, South Africa, Nigeria, GHGs, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Chang

Haematological response of Heterobranchus longifilis fed varying dietary protein levels

Hematological effects of feeding varying dietary crude proteins levels to one hundred and fifty (150) H.longifilis fingerlings was examined on biweekly basis. The fingerlings of mean weights 1.26g plus or minus 0.24g were stocked in eight hapa nets (1mx1m) at 15 fingerlings per hapa. Four experimental diets with crude protein; 35%, 40%, 45% and 50% coded diet 1-4 respectively were fed to the fish for 8 weeks. The blood sample was taken and examined for packed cell volume (PCV) total protein (TP) Hemoglobin (Hb), Serum album, Erythrocyte count (RBC), while blood cell (WBC) mean corpuscle volume (MCV) and mean corpuscle hemoglobin, concentration (MCHC). There was an increase in the values of the hematological indices studied with increase in protein inclusion levels. A higher positive correlation with no significant difference (P greater than or equal to 0.05) exists between the treatments RBC, WBC, Hb and TP. The best RBC (2.10x10 super(6) count/l). WBC (7.65x10 super(4) count/l), PCV (35.4%) and Hb (5.79mg/l) were presented in fingerlings fed 40% crude protein followed by 45% crude protein. The dietary crude protein of 40% is recommended for H. longifilis for sound and healthy conditio