Evaluation of Information Technology (It) Investments on Bank Returns: Evidence from Nigerian Banks.

No bank can afford to ignore the need to adopt measures that will quicken the processing and transmission of business information, as well as saving time and cost, hence, the need for information technology in banking business. Notwithstanding the numerous benefits of information technology, information technology procurement requires huge investments outlay. Whether the level of investment done in IT actually brings real benefits to the banks, is still a matter of debate in academic circles. This paper therefore, evaluates the effect of information technology investment on bank returns. Our model was structured in a way that it showed the effect and the relationship between information technology expenditure and bank returns. OLS stated in a multiple form was applied to data generated from a sample of banks that survived the 2005 regulatory bank consolidation exercise in Nigeria. The analysis suggests that information technology expenditure has a negative relationship with bank profitability indicating that IT expenditures of all the studied banks do not increase bank profitability, but rather decreases it insignificantly. Keywords: Information technology; bank returns; level of IT investment; correlation; eff

The Economic Implications of National Development Plans: The Nigerian Experience (1946-2013)

This paper reviews the National Development Plans in Nigeria from the period of inception in 1946 to the recent period. At the course of the review, the capital expenditure profile at each period of development plan was examined to weigh the cost-benefit effect - which is the main objective of this research. Being an ex-post-facto research, the data were sourced secondarily and findings include that the National Development Plan were abandoned and in each period of the other development plans, along with their corresponding capital expenditure and allocation. Findings also reveal that no single period of the development plan recorded a fully implemented laid down objectives due to lack of implementable plan. Equally, the research finds that some factors causing failures in the plans include the leaders’ inability to transform planned policies to realities, diversion from original focus, and poor budgetary allocation. Conclusively, with the 2013 National Implementation Plan (NIP) instituted recently, there is hope of seeing a planned and totally executed development plan soonest otherwise the Vision 20:2020 through which Nigeria aims at becoming one of the world’s leading economies come 2020 is just but a mirage.   Keywords: Development Plans, Capital Expenditure, Planning Commission, Development Programmes.

Banking Distress and the Erosion of Public Confidence in the Nigerian Banking System

In the Nigeria banking industry, corrective policies have been inevitably applied to punctuations occasioned by systemic distresses which tend to grossly erode the trust and confidence reposed on the banking system. The CBN in 2005 embarked on reforms targeted at increasing banks capital base which will in turn make banks withstand shocks as well as distresses. The 2005 reform having been implemented, this study examined the extent to which the reforms have been able to encourage savings in terms of deposit liabilities for the entire banking firms in Nigeria. The variables for the study captured the deposit liability of the Nigerian banking industry which was decomposed to demand, time, savings as well as total deposit liability of the Nigerian banking industry. No individual bank or a sample of banks was selected to be studied since the entire population of the banking industry investigated. The models were structured to capture the growth or decline trends of the deposit liability (demand, savings, time, and total deposit liabilities) of the Nigerian banking industry before and after the 2005 banking sector reforms. From our findings, essentially, the post reform average growth rates are higher than the pre reform growth rates although the differences between the two periods are essentially lower than 10%. The findings are suggestive that the 2005 concluded banking reform has corrected the erosion of public confidence witnessed before the reform. Keywords: Bank distress; demand deposit; savings deposit; time deposit; total deposit liabilities

Taxation and Tertiary Education Enhancement in Nigeria: An Evaluation of the Education Tax Fund (ETF) Between 1999-2010

This research undertakes an eleven-year period study of the activities of Education Tax Fund (ETF) upon Nigerian tertiary institutions with the target of revealing how Education Tax Fund has helped in enhancing the educational development of Nigerian Tertiary Institutions. Various analytical tools were employed in appraising data generated from the publications of the operations department of the Education Tax Fund and some other Federal Government publications. The research found out that ETF has made significant positive impact towards improving the educational sector in Nigeria by construction of various intervention projects and improving the teaching and learning conditions of both students and lecturers., and that each tertiary institution has its own criteria (subject to TETfund directives) for determining which lecturer becomes a beneficiary. However, the principal officers such as vice chancellors, rectors, provosts and their deputies, the directors of works, librarians etc are not to be included as beneficiaries. The research also revealed that ETF distribution formula nationwide for tertiary institutions were 25%, 12.5% and 12.5% for Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, respectively while the remaining 50% was distributed to Secondary and Primary Schools. Conclusively, the researcher is of the opinion that the ETF has the potential of alleviating the chronic under-funding of the educational sector and that in future, if properly utilized the fund will continue in no small measure towards revitalizing the educational system in Nigeria. Keywords: Education Tax Fund; Education trust fund; tertiary institutions; educational development; high impact project

Banking Sector Reform: An Approach to Restoring Public Confidence on the Nigerian Banking Industry

Loss of public confidence in the banking system occurs when a bank or some banks in the system experience illiquidity or insolvency resulting in a situation where depositors fear the loss of their deposits and a consequent break down of contractual obligations that results in runs on the bank. This work used the various components of bank deposit liabilities to empirically analyze and ascertain if the 2005 bank reform has promoted or engendered public confidence on the Nigeria’s banking system. To test for a significance difference for the 2005 banking reform in restoring public confidence in the banking industry, the contributions of the decomposed deposit liability of demand, savings and fixed deposits to the total deposit liability of the Nigerian banking industry were evaluated for pre and post performances for the Nigerian banking industry using the parametric statistical pooled variance t test model to test for a significant difference. From the test of hypotheses the research presented in this paper concludes as follows: that there is no significant difference in the contribution of the demand deposit to the total deposit liability of the Nigerian banking industry after the 2005 banking sector reform; that there is a significant difference in the contribution of the time deposit to the total deposit liability of the Nigerian banking industry after the 2005 banking sector reform; and that there is a significant difference in the contribution of the savings deposit to the total deposit liability of the Nigerian banking industry after the 2005 banking sector reform. Keywords: Nigeria; banking industry; banking reform; public confidence restoration; deposit liabilitie

The Effect of External Agencies’ Financial Assistance and Bank Credit on the Development and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria.

Like most developing and developed countries, Nigeria sees the Small and Medium Enterprises as potential catalysts for national economic growth and development, and, so partners with many external donor agencies and local NGOs to boost the performance of the SMEs’ sector and its contributions to national growth. Using bank credit to SMEs and SMEs’ investment data, this paper examined the impact of external agencies’ financial assistance and bank credit on the development and growth of small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria. Although findings show that bank credit to SMEs and SMEs’ investment have been on the rise throughout the period studied, it suggests that government efforts to boost the sector’s performance did not yield significant impacts as there is low co-variability between the foreign financial assistance and the SMEs’ growth and development. Though a positive relationship exists between foreign financial assistance and the SMEs’ growth, the explanatory variable (financial assistance needed by the SMEs during the period) did not have a significant impact on their growth and development. This will be explained by the inability of the SMEs to have reasonable access to the foreign and domestic financial assistance available during the period. The SMEs’ inability to perform creditably could be attributed to the endogenous and exogenous limitations they faced. Keywords: Small and Medium Enterprises, External Agencies, Official Development Assistance, Financial Assistance, Bank Credit, Growth and Developmen

The Structure of the Nigerian Banking Sector and its Impact on Bank Performance

This paper attempts to measure the market structure and competition in the consolidated Nigerian banking industry, as well as investigated the impact of the banking sector structure on bank performance. A time-series regression analysis was applied to a ten-year data period (2001-2010) to evaluate the relationship and the impact of banking sector structure, other explanatory variables on bank performance. Significant findings include that the Nigerian banking sector is oligopolistic in structure and that market concentration positively and significantly impacts on bank performance. These results suggest that market concentration is a major determinant of bank profitability in Nigeria. The structure of the Nigerian banking sector and thus the performance of banks may be improved if the sector is allowed to exploit the synergistic effect of market-induced consolidation. Keywords: Concentration; banking sector structure; relationship; performance

Impact of Corporate Diversification on the Market Value of Firms: A study of Deposit Money Banks Nigerian

This paper investigates the impact of diversification on banks market value. Many studies have been conducted on the effect of diversification on firm value. From a theoretical view point, it is commonly accepted that if the costs of diversification exceed its benefits, the market will discount the share price of diversified firms. The paper hypothesized that diversification does not impact significantly on market value of banks in Nigeria. Adopting an Ex-post facto research design and applying OLS, the regression results at 5% significant level of significance rejected the null hypothesis and thereby accepting the alternate. This suggests that corporate diversification impacts significantly on the market value of banks, implying that diversification in Nigerian banks impacts significantly on the market value of the diversified banks. Keywords: Diversification; market value; regression; banks

How Corporate Diversification affects Excess Value and Excess Profitability: A study of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria.

This paper examines the relationship between excess value and excess profitability using deposit money banks in Nigeria as focal points of the study. The study relied on historic accounting data generated from financial (annual) reports and accounts of sampled banks between the ten-year period covered by the study. Borrowing from previous studies, appropriate regression and correlation equations were formulated to measure the relationship between excess value and excess profitability of Nigerian banks. The regression and correlation analyses revealed that the correlation is positive and significantly different from zero. This implies that there is significant relationship between excess value and excess profitability of deposit money banks in Nigeria. Thus the study provides evidence that there is a significant relationship between excess value and excess profitability of both diversified and standalone banks. Keywords: Diversification; excess value; excess profitability; stand alone banks

Budget Evaluation and Economic Development in Nigeria

The major goal of this research was to see how budget assessment affected Nigeria's economic progress. The inspiration stemmed from a number of inconsistencies in the Nigerian economy's budget preparation and execution. This study employed an ex-post-facto design, with data gathered from the Central Bank Statistical Bulletin and the Federal Ministry of Finance for analysis. A model based on empirical and theoretical reviews was developed to attain this wide purpose. The model's dependent variable was the Human Development Index (HDI), while the model's independent variables were the government's capital budget, recurrent budget, and yearly budget implementation rate. To evaluate data, the researchers used the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Model. Budget assessment had a favorable and considerable influence on Nigeria's economic progress, according to the inferential findings. According to the report, Nigeria's government should make an effort to raise capital and recurring expenditures in its yearly budget, since both have a substantial influence on economic development. Finally, the government should make an effort to put in place effective budget monitoring and assessment equipment that will increase the rate of budget implementation while simultaneously ensuring strict adherence to due process