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

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

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.

Capital Flight and Investment Dynamics in Nigeria: A Time Series Analysis (1970-2006)

This study critically examines the implications of capital flight on investment growth in Nigeria between 1970 and 2006, because of the consequential effect it has on economic growth. The time series data properties incorporated were examined using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test and the results revealed that Investment, capital flight, interest rate and exchange rate were stationary at levels excluding exchange rate found to be integrated at first difference. The Augmented Engle-Granger (AEG) co-integration test employed to investigate the dynamic relationship between capital flight and investment level in Nigeria, revealed that there exist long-run interaction. Though, capital flight was found to exert positive but insignificant effect on investment growth during the review period. While, the short-run dynamic interaction as a result of the structural instability in the long-run was captured by the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) model which was found inestimable due to the high collinearity existing among the incorporated variables. Policy recommendations were proffered base on the research findings.Capital flight, Investment behaviour, Long-run, Stationarity, ECM, Cointegration, Nigeria

Is Monetary Policy a Growth Stimulant in Nigeria? A Vector Autoregressive Approach

This paper critically examines the dynamic interaction between monetary policy tools in stimulating economic growth, as well as stabilizing the economy from external shocks in Nigeria. The paper considered key monetary time series variables and real growth of output in formulating Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models which showed interdependence interaction between the period of 1970 and 2007. The time series properties of the selected variables are examined using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root test and the results revealed that only growth of real output and broad money supply are stationary at levels, while saving, lending and exchange rates were found stationary at first difference. The long-run dynamic interaction was established through the Johansen’s Trace and Maximum Eigenvalue tests. The pair-wise Granger-Causality test conducted showed that the growth rate of real output is not a leading indicator for any monetary variables. Other innovation accounting tests were also carried out like impulse responses function to test for the response of growth in real output to innovation shock on monetary variables. Also, the forecast error variance decomposition (FEVD) is used to decompose the monetary shock on the growth rate of real output in Nigeria. Proper policy recommendations were proffered based on the results emanated from the econometric analyses.Monetary policy, Monetary Instruments, Economic growth, VAR, Impulse shock response, Variance decomposition

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. Keywords: Development Finance Institutions, Financial Institutions, Financial Intermediation, Real Sectors, Financial Services, Financial Products, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, Nigeri

Efficacy of modified polycross method in development of sugarcane progenies

There has not been appreciable progress in development of productive commercial sugarcane varieties in Nigeria due to low technological development. Consequently, a modified polycross breeding scheme was developed to generate superior progenies that could replace existing low yielding varieties. The objective of this study therefore was to test the efficacy of the breeding scheme by  assessing  the genetic variability and inheritance  of  characters  associated  with  economic sugarcane traits  (cane  yield  and  sucrose content) among the progenies as well as identify those with superior performance over the best checks. The results showed significant differences (P 0.05 < 0.001) for all the traits as well as the presence of high genetic variability for the studied traits except for brix among the progenies. Rank summation index based on the combination of cane yield and brix, identified three progenies USRI/08/12, USRI/08/22 and USRI/08/25 as being superior to the highest yielding check varieties. The results showed that the modified polycross method is as efficient as the Hawaiian polycross technique and more economical in the development of high yielding commercial sugarcane varieties in low technological developed sugarcane breeding programme.Key Words: Crop cycles, Heritability, Rank Summation Index, Saccharum officinarum L

Nephrotic syndrome among children in Kano: A clinicopathological study

Objective: To evaluate the clinicopathological features of children with nephrotic syndrome seen in a pediatric nephrology unit in northern Nigeria.Materials and Methods: All children less than 15 years of age who had nephrotic syndrome and who had been subjected to renal biopsy at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, were studied. Their histologic diagnoses were evaluated alongside clinical and other laboratory parameters.Results: Twenty children, 17 males and three females, were studied. These represented 55% of all children with nephrotic syndrome seen in the pediatric nephrology unit during the study period, the rest of which have never had renal biopsies. Peak age was 7-8 years (range 2.5-13 years). Fourteen of the 20 children (70%) had previously been on steroid treatment. Of these, 11 (55%) were classified to be steroid resistant and three (15%) were frequent relapsers. Six (30%) children were newly diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome and had not commenced steroid  treatment. Hypertension was found in seven (35%) children. Sixteen  children (80%) had microscopic hematuria on presentation. The most common histopathological diagnosis was focal glomerulosclerosis in nine (45%) children (segmental = 8; global = 1). Minimal change disease was found in four children (20%), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis inthree children (15%), membranous nephropathy in three children (15%), and diffuse mesangial hypercellularity in one child (5%). Of the six children who had renal biopsy before commencement of steroid treatment, three (50%) were found to have glomerulosclerosis.Conclusion: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis was the most common histological subtype diagnosed in Kano among children with nephrotic syndrome in this study.Key words: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, Kano, nephrotic  syndrome, pediatric

Exchange rate variation and fiscal balance in Nigeria: a time series analysis

Exchange rate remains one of the principal determinants of a nation’s external balance and fiscal status of most emerging economies. How better its fluctuation is managed has a long way to go with the performance of major macroeconomic variables in a country. It is behind this backdrop that this paper tries to examine the effects of exchange rate fluctuation on fiscal deficit crisis in Nigeria between 1980 and 2008. The period is so chosen as it covers the range of time that witnessed the greatest fluctuation’s in the external value of the nation’s legal tender (naira). The regression analysis reveals that exchange rate has impacted negatively on fiscal deficit over the period under consideration. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test reveals that all the time series variables employed are non-stationary at levels; both the intercept and deterministic trend. Appropriate policies are therefore recommended on how best to reposition the economy in the face of continuing devaluation of naira

Burden of cervical cancer in Northern Nigeria

Background: Data regarding burden of illness borne by women affected with cancer of the cervix (CaCvx) has been largely anecdotal. This study aimed to evaluate disability and cost burden of the illness in northern Nigeria.Materials and Methods: Cost of illness was determined using the bottom‑up approach and involved estimating costs of managing various stages of the illness while disability adjusted life year (DALY) was estimated sing CaCvx survival data from northern Nigeria.Results: Overall cost of illness ranged from ₦191,338 ($524) to ₦1,001,298 ($2,743) for local to metastatic diseases, respectively. Of these, direct medical costs accounted for up to 75.4% while indirect costs accounted for up to 48% in different stages of the disease. Productivity losses ranged from 18.3% to 43.1%, while surgical, medical, and radiotherapies accounted for losses between 37.2% and 46%. Estimated DALY was 269 years/100,000 women with cost/DALY saved on treatment estimated at between $19 and$1,443 for different stages. At the discounted rate, it was estimated that it would be 16 to 902 times cheaper to screen for the disease than to treat (P < 0.0001).Conclusion: Though burden of illness borne by women with CaCvx in northern Nigeria is similar to that borne by women in other developing countries, it is still too high; and the only panacea to this is institution of early screening programs and immunization. In addition, concerted effort is needed to ensure extension of health insurance coverage for cancer therapy and increase in availability of radiotherapy service as a means of reducing waiting times for treatment.Keywords: Cervical cancer; cost of illness; disability adjusted life year; productivit