The Impact of Debt Burden on the Economic Growth of Nigeria (1970- 2021)

The study used autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) to examine the influence of external debt on Nigeria’s economic growth using annual time series data from World Bank Development Indicators from 1970 to 2021. The findings show a significant positive relationship between interest rates and economic growth in the short and long run. In contrast, inflation rate significantly negatively impacts economic growth in the short and long run. External debt, external debt service, and the exchange rate have an insignificant impact on economic growth in the short and long run. The study recommends reducing the cost of governance to promote development, while investment in the Nigerian economy should be encouraged

An Analysis of the Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions on Commercial Banks Performance in Nigeria

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the corporate world are achieving increasing importance and attention especially with the advent of intense globalization. This is evident from the magnitude and growth of deal values and resultant ‘mega-mergers’ transacted in recent times. This research work attempts to assess the implication of merger and acquisition of commercial banks in Nigeria on their profitability and other associated measures of performance. The research analysis used published audited accounts of ten (10) out of twenty-four (24) banks that emerged from the consolidation exercise and data from the Central Banks of Nigeria which consists of both primary data. The relevant data collected were analyzed and tested using simple percentage and tables. Subsequently, the three hypotheses formulated in this study were tested using correlation co-efficient (r2) and T-Test. The result of the analysis revealed that there is significant relationship between pre and post merger/acquisition capital base of commercial banks and level of profitability, there is significant difference between pre and post-merger acquisition earnings per shares. Merger/acquisition have also increased the capitalization of commercial banks with evidences of changes in company’s share ownership, increase in the cost of services and changes in bank lending rates. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the merger and acquisition programme has improved the overall performances of banks significantly and also has contributed immensely to the growth of the real sector for sustainable development Key-words: Mergers and acquisitions, profitability, capitalization, commercial banks and Earnings per shar

Leveraging on Rural Cooperatives in Informal Sector Financing for Economic Growth

This paper focuses on the finance function as it relates to economic growth and development in rural economies against the backdrop of the imperatives of inclusive growth and the underlying expected roles of small and medium enterprises that are generally seen as engines of growth. An attempt has herein been made to see why the experience in Nigeria of direct intervention through microcredit schemes have failed and which calls for a rethink and the proposition of the need to leverage on rural cooperatives for informal sector financing. This has herein been reinforced by putting forward a reasonable scholastic view of the advantages of rural informal cooperatives over the formal ones with the conclusion that over time if the rural informal cooperatives are supported to stabilize, they will on their own transform into formidable formal institutions without any coercion. Keywords: Rural informal cooperatives, Inclusive growth, Small and Medium Enterprise

An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Public Debt on Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigeria 1975-2005

This paper focuses on the impact of public debt on economic growth using Nigeria as a case study. An analysis of the long-run relationship and impact of debt from the perspective of the value impact and proportional impact was done. The value impact variables used herein include the external debt value, domestic debt value, total debt value and budget deficit figures. The proportional impact variables are ratios of the value impact to the gross domestic product (GDP). An augmented Cobb Douglas model was used and subsequently a dynamic version of the functional relationship was estimated using Co-integration technique to capture the long-run impact of debt variables on economic growth. The result showed that the joint impact of debt on economic growth is negative and quite significant in the long-run though in the short-run the impact of borrowed funds and coefficient of budget deficit is positive. In the study, the speed at which the short-run equation converges to equilibrium in the long-run as shown by the Error Correction Mechanism coefficient was found to be slow. The conclusion from this study is that though in the short-run the impact of borrowed fund on the Nigerian economy was positive, the impact of debt in the long-run depressed economic growth as a result of incompetent debt management.Key words

External Debt and Nigeria’S Economic Growth Nexus, Matters Arising

This study focuses on the impact of external debt on economic growth of Nigeria and in order to carry out an empirical analysis a Simple Regression analysis of the least square method of parameter estimator was done. The significance of the estimated parameters was also subjected to tests like Analysis of Variance, Student t- test, Correlation coefficient (R) and Coefficient of determination R2. The empirical results via the parameters’ estimates revealed that external debt and debt service have negative and positive influence respectively, though the external debt’s estimate was not too strong, on economic growth. The empirical Student t-test and F-statistic when compared with theoretical table values at both 1% & 5% significance level, suggests the acceptance of Null hypothesis stated for equation I which confirms the validity of the negative impact of external debt on economic growth of Nigeria and the acceptance of Alternative hypothesis for equation II which confirms the positive significant relationship between economic growth and debt service. However, the R2 of 53% and 64% reveal that the equations of the models were well fitted that is the independent variable was adequately explained by the explanatory variables. In view of the negative contribution of external debt to economic growth, it is recommended among others, that cost-benefit analysis, prioritization of projects, absorptive capacity of the economy, investment on productive self-financing projects, probity as well as accountability in handling government resources and debt sustainability should form the basis for contracting external debt finance

Financial Integration and Financial Development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan African (SSA) Countries

The study examined the effects of financial integration on financial development for 49 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries for the period 2002 to 2021. Five independent metrics of financial development and two financial integration measures were utilized to ensure robustness of the anticipated results. Using a dynamic panel GMM-SYS estimation technique, it was discovered that the impacts of financial integration on financial development in SSA are highly dependent on the proxies employed to capture these two variables of financial integration. Financial integration has a beneficial influence on private sector credit, domestic credit, liquid liabilities, and finance size, when proxied by the interest rate spread. However, this measure of financial integration limits the volume of financial activity of financial intermediaries as it’s negatively correlated. Similarly, when measured using gross private capital flows, financial integration has statistically positive effects on financial development as measured by liquid liabilities but has a negative impact on financial development as measured by finance activity and financial size in Sub-Saharan African nations. The general implication of these findings is that the influence of financial integration on financial development in SSA is complex. However, before reaching a firm conclusion about the relationship between these two variables, several transmission mechanisms by which former influences the latter, as well as their various proxies, must be considere

Dividend Policy, Liquidity and Firm Value of Consumer Goods Industry Companies in Nigeria

The focus of this study is to determine the effect of dividend policy and liquidity on firm value. The research was conducted on companies in the consumer goods industry sector on the Nigeria Exchange Group for the 2012-2021 period. The population used in conducting this study was obtained from the consumer goods industrial sector companies listed on the bourse of the Nigeria Exchange Group (NGX Group) which have a total of 25 companies. Purposive sampling technique was used and 17 companies were selected that met the condition of regular dividend payment. Panel least regression data analysis technique was used for the study. Secondary data used were obtained from audited financial statements of the sampled companies for the period and Nigerian Exchange Group factbook. The results showed that dividend policy, liquidity and market risk had positive significant relationship with firm value at 5.8198:0.000; 15:6395:0.000 and 1.2805:0.000 respectively indicating 1% significance level. Free cashflow had positive insignificant relationship with firm value while ownership concentration has negative but insignificant causal effect on firm value. R², the coefficient of determination of 0.8329 reflects that the model explanatory variables account for 83.29% of value of price to book value, the explained variable. It is recommended that adequate level of profitability should be a priority to enable payment of dividend. Liquidity position should be at the acceptable levels and market risk should not exceed tolerance limit

Macroeconomic variables and their effects on the capital structure of quoted Nigerian firms

This study examines the impact of macroeconomic variables on the capital structure of Nigerian quoted firms. The two-stage least squares, GMM and GARCH estimations reveal that corporate borrowing is a declining function of macroeconomic conditions in Nigeria and macro-effects are significant across the 17 selected industries

Effect of Dividend Policy on Share Price Movement of Selected Quoted Companies in Nigeria

Dividend Policy remains a contentious area of corporate finance with a school of thoughtindifferent and another in support. The two contending views under which other hypotheseswere premised are; on the popular dividend relevance and irrelevance theories. Dividendpolicy scholars argued that it expresses information content about future prospects andcashflow of the firm. Irrelevance proponents hinged their argument on the point that all that isnecessary is the investment policies and risk of an enterprise in maximizing shareholderswealth. The latter proponents advanced their theories in favour on capital and future gainsinpreference to immediate payment of cash in form of dividend. This study centered oneffectsof dividend policy on share price of selected quoted companies in Nigeria with dividendper-share, earnings per-share and profitability taken as endogenous variables. Thirteenquotedcompanies on the floor of the Nigeria Exchange (NGX Group) using randomsamplingwereused. Pooled OLS regression with fixed and random effects models were employedforestimation. The fixed effects model was preferred as the efficient estimator for the studyandthe results revealed that dividend per share has inverse and statistically insignificant effectswith share price, likewise; earnings per share. Profitability has positive but insignificanteffect on share price

The Effect of Ownership Structure on Firm Performance of Listed Consumer Goods Firms in Nigeria

The study analysed the influence of ownership structure on the firm performance of fifteen (15) listedconsumer goods firms in Nigeria from 2011 to 2021. The firm's performance was proxied by return onassets and enterprise value. The ownership structure was measured by the chief executive officer(CEO), board, and block ownership. The findings show that CEO ownership significantly positivelyaffects the return on assets of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. Board and block ownership havean insignificant influence on the return on assets of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. Similarly, block ownership significantly positively affects the enterprise value of listed consumer goods firms inNigeria. CEO and board ownership have an insignificant effect on the enterprise value of listedconsumer goods firms in Nigeria. The study recommends that block owners should be allowed to usetheir skills and experience to help companies achieve their goals