Corporate Governance Practices in the Nigerian Banking Industry

Corporate governance is particularly of importance in the Nigeria banking industry where a number of financial failures and questionable business practices had negatively impinged investors? confidence.

Credit Supply and Agricultural Production in Nigeria: A Vector Autoregressive (VAR) Approach

Agriculture used to be the mainstay of the Nigerian economy contributing over 70 percent to the country’s total output and accounts for over 90 percent of total food consumption. However, the performance of the sector has drastically deteriorated since the discovery of crude oil in 1956. The strategic roles of the agricultural sector in national development led the Federal Government to establish agricultural sector credit schemes and various other institutions to boost the level of productivity in the sector. Notwithstanding, the intensification of government and private sector support to the sector, the contribution of agricultural to GDP has fallen significantly creating a fundamental gap in resource allocation to the agricultural sector. The basic question raised in this research, is, does increased credit supply through the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) and commercial loans to the sector boost agricultural sector productivity? This study examines the impact of the credit supply, and various commercial bank loan schemes on agricultural sector production using vector autoregressive (VAR) approach. Using time series data sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin over the sample period of 1981-2013, the study found ACGSF to have performed poorly in explaining agricultural sector performance while commercial loans to agricultural sector had a significant impact on agricultural production. The policy implication of this study is that government should encourage the commercial bank to finance investment in the agricultural sector by granting credit facilities at below market interest rates. Keywords: ACGSF; Agricultural Production; Credit Supply; Nigeria; Vector Autoregressive Mode

A Review of the Circular Economy in Nigeria: From Rhetoric to Enterprise Development

This chapter examines the circular economy (CE) transition in Nigeria through interviews with nine entrepreneurs involved in CE businesses. A framework is developed to explain the transition from rhetoric about CE among government, waste management organizations, and the public, to active enterprise development. The framework proposes that macro-level catalysts like government policies, infrastructure, and culture, along with micro-level catalysts like passion, experience, and attitudes, enable the shift from discussion to implementation of CE principles through business creation. The interviews reveal key challenges faced by CE enterprises in Nigeria including lack of supportive policies and infrastructure, need for improved waste management culture, and difficulty accessing funding and materials. Recommendations center on collaboration between government and private sector, infrastructure improvements, incentives, and education to further foster CE adoption. Ultimately, the successful realization of a CE in Nigeria will require commitment across stakeholders to enable innovative, circular business models to thrive

Corporate Social Responsibility in SMEs: a shift from philanthropy to institutional works?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) amongst Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is often characterised in the literature as unstructured, informal and ad hoc discretionary philanthropic activities. Drawing insights from recent theoretical/analytical frameworks (i.e. Crane et al., in Corporate social responsibility: Readings and cases in a global context, 2013; and Valente and Crane, in Calif Manag Rev 52(3):52–78, 2010), and on empirical data collected from both Nigeria and Tanzania, we found that CSR practices in SMEs are much more nuanced than previously presented. In addition, SMEs undertake their CSR practices to varying degrees in multiple spaces—i.e. the workplace, marketplace, community and the ecological environment. These CSR practices go beyond philanthropy and in some instances involve institutional works aimed at addressing some of the institutional gaps in the environments where these SMEs operate. The paper makes a contribution by drawing attention to the multiple spaces of CSR practices amongst SMEs, and the institutional works they do, which are often taken for granted in the extant literature. We provide a unique perspective—by arguing that what is frequently conceptualised as philanthropic CSR in Africa is (or may include) ‘institutional works’

COVID-19 in Africa:Contextualizing impacts, responses, and prospects

It has become a truism that COVID-19 has impacted all countries and all people around the world, but in different ways. Yet this contextual diversity in the pandemic’s impacts, the responses by governments and other actors, and the prospects for recovery are only beginning to be understood. This is especially so for Africa, where, on the whole, the pandemic had a late start compared to other regions, but where the complex interactions among the disease, local health systems, and preexisting vulnerabilities linked to poverty, inequality, and fragile governance make such understanding particularly important. “Africa could become the next epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic,” though thankfully the rate of infections has slowed in most parts of the continent in August and September. Yet the risk of a second wave of infections remains high, and in any case, the effects of the global recession and of governments’ lockdown regulations are layered upon a context of widespread poverty and constrained states, resulting in severe humanitarian, economic, and social impacts, with long-term implications for sustainable development on the continent. Setbacks to Africa’s sustainable development agenda have global implications, and this is true for the pandemic also. As argued by the United Nations Secretary General, “Only victory in Africa can end the pandemic everywhere

Corporate Social Responsibility in SMEs: a shift from philanthropy to institutional works?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) amongst Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is often characterised in the literature as unstructured, informal, and ad hoc discretionary philanthropic activities. Drawing insights from recent theoretical/analytical frameworks (i.e. Crane, Matten, and Spence, 2013; and Valente and Crane, 2010), and on empirical data collected from both Nigeria and Tanzania, we found that CSR practices in SMEs are much more nuanced than previously presented. In addition, SMEs undertake their CSR practices to varying degrees in multiple spaces – i.e. the workplace, marketplace, community and the ecological environment. These CSR practices go beyond philanthropy and in some instances involve institutional works aimed at addressing some of the institutional gaps in the environments where these SMEs operate. The paper makes a contribution by drawing attention to the multiple spaces of CSR practices amongst SMEs, and the institutional works they do, which are often taken for granted in the extant literature. We provide a unique perspective – by arguing that what is frequently conceptualised as philanthropic CSR in Africa is (or may include) 'institutional works'. Paper Type: Research paper

The Dynamics Of The Consumer Segment Of The Nigerian Banking Industry

This paper provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the nature, scope, history and challenges facing the banking industry in Nigeria. It provides a detailed analysis of a recent field research conducted on the banking industry, which captures consumers' general perception of the industry. In the structural analysis of the industry, the paper reveals that the industry though highly competitive is very profitable. But to be profitable, it is recommended that banks should understand segmentation and operate within a segment that best suits their operation. Another recommendation is the age-old concept of consumer marketing strategies that successful FMCG Companies such as P&G and Coca-Cola have used as a model for the banking industry. LBS Management Review Vol.8(1) 2003: 7-2

DETERMINANTS OF CAPITAL FLOWS INTO NIGERIA: AN AUTOREGRESSIVE-DISTRIBUTED LAG (ARDL) APPROACH

The rate of capital flows into the emerging markets is alarming and has become a subject of debate in the literature. It is mostly believed that capital flows are beneficial to the economies of the developing countries as it engenders the efficient allocation of global resources thereby increasing the availability of capital required for investment and economic growth. Despite the general belief, the macroeconomic variables that determine capital flows remain controversial. In the light of this, the study attempted to examine the long-run and short-run determinants of capital flows into Nigeria. The study employed secondary data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), FRED Economic data, and World Development Indicator between the periods of 1986-2014. Using the econometric technique of Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL), the study found that exchange rate (LnEXR) and stock market prices (LnSP) are important determinants of capital flows into Nigeria both in the short-run and long-run. It is, therefore, recommended that the government, through its policies, should make concerted effort in boosting the activities at the stock market in a bid to attract capital flows into the country

Audit committee reports and corporate governance in Nigeria

Audit committees are said to be important mechanisms of corporate governance. The aim of this research is to assess the quality of audit committee reports in annual reports and accounts by specifically measuring their conformance with the provisions of the Nigerian Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990. Of the 260 reports selected five years post Enron (2002-2006) for analysis, only 134 (52%) were available. The empirical results indicate that the reports (mostly unqualified) do not support public opinion and an earlier study on the credibility of financial report in Nigeria [see for example, Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) (2004) by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)]. It is also at variance with the allegations of financial statement fraud committed by high profile companies in Nigeria (e.g., Unilever and Cadbury). An improvement in the quality of audit committee reports should enhance the credibility and transparency of financial report.auditing; audit committees; corporate governance; financial reporting; Nigeria; fraud; audit quality.