The Nigeria’s Demographic Transition and Economic Prospects

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Capital Structure and FirmPerformance among the listed Agro-Allied Firms in Nigeria

The study empirically investigated the effect of capital structure on firm performance among agro-allied firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2003 to 2017. Pooled OLS, random effect and fixed effect regressions were used to analyse the data. Performance was measured by return on investment, return on assets and earnings per share while capital structure was captured by leverage and equity finance. Equity finance was found to have a significant effect on returns on investment and assets while leverage impacted earnings per share. Also, firms’ growth and age were positively related to performance while size had an inverse relationship. Therefore, firms should adopt an efficient equity-debt ratio that significantly improves performance over a specific production period

Capital Structure and FirmPerformance among the listed Agro-Allied Firms in Nigeria

The study empirically investigated the effect of capital structure on firm performance among agro-allied firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange  from 2003 to 2017. Pooled OLS, random effect and fixed effect regressions were used to analyse the data. Performance was measured by  return on investment, return on assets and earnings per share while capital structure was captured by leverage and equity finance. Equity finance was found to have a significant effect on returns on investment and assets while leverage impacted earnings per share. Also, firms’ growth and age  were positively related to performance while size had an inverse relationship. Therefore, firms should adopt an efficient equity-debt ratio that significantly improves  performance over a specific production period

Financial Products and Services for Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania: An Assessment of the MIVARF Programme in Iringa Region

One of the major challenges facing smallholder farmers in Africa is access to financial support to scale up their agricultural production and income. This challenge is also faced by rural farmers in Tanzania who make up about 80 percent of the country’s population. As part of the efforts to provide solution to the issue of rural financing facing smallholder farmers, the government of Tanzania in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has created the Marketing Infrastructure Value Addition and Rural Finance Support (MIVARF) Programme to contribute to reduction of rural poverty and accelerate economic growth on a sustainable basis. This study assessed and established the available financial products and services (FPS) extended to smallholder farmer beneficiaries ofthe MIVARF Programme in the Iringa Region ofTanzania. Primary data collected from a field survey in two districts of Iringa Region were used. A well-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the beneficiaries while key  informant interview was adopted for institutions offering financial products and services. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The findings show that the MIVARF Programme has contributed to improvement in the socio-economic wellbeing of the beneficiaries. Women were also given adequate consideration in the design of financial products and services for smallholder farmers in rural areas in Iringa, Tanzania. Keywords: Smallholder farmers, Financial products and services, Rural areas, Tanzani

Demand for heterosexual commercial sex services in Ibadan, Nigeria

Context/Backgroud: This paper examines the demand for heterosexual commercial sex services in Ibadan, Nigeria with specific focus on the sub-markets where different commercial sex activities are usually traded. Identified players include commercial sex workers (females), clients (males) and intermediaries (exploiters).Data Sources & Method: This study employed multi-stage sampling procedure. At the first stage, the most populous local government area in Ibadan was purposively selected; for the second stage, ten locations where commercial sex work exists were purposively selected while eighteen (18) clients were randomly and discretely selected from each of the sites at the last stage.  The eventual sample size was one hundred and sixty-eight (168) clients. The empirical model derived from the rational addiction theory and it was estimated using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique.Results: The results show that the demand is highly responsive to age, marital status, income, tastes and preferences and the price (with respect to condom usage). Clubs/bars, streets and houses were the highly patronised sub-markets, though the demand was increasing with short time and per night services in some sub-markets, it was decreasing in others. The nature of risk became more pronounced with clubs/bar clients being more risk loving while others were risk averse in other sub-markets based on their respective significant condom usage.