Impact of Non-Oil Foreign Trade on Economic Growth in Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract T his study focuses on the empirical examination of the impact of non-oil foreign trade on economic growth in Nigeria from 1986 to 2018. The study employed secondary data in analysing the impact of non-oil foreign trade on economic growth in Nigeria. The Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) and Error Correction Model (ECM) were used to estimate the impact of non-oil foreign trade on economic growth in Nigeria and this was because of the specific objectives. The R-square of 0.98 percent suggests that there is a strong relationship between Economic Growth in Nigeria and non-oil foreign trade indicators in Nigeria, that is Non-Oil Export in Nigeria (NOILEX), Non-Oil Import in Nigeria (NOILIM) and Exchange Rate in Nigeria (EXCHR). Also based on the probability value, Non-Oil Import in Nigeria (NOILIM) and Exchange Rate in Nigeria (EXCHR) were statistically significant in explaining the variation in Economic Growth in Nigeria. While Non-Oil Export in Nigeria (NOILEX) was statistically insignificant in explaining the variation in Economic Growth in Nigeria. The probability values of the ECM results revealed that Non-Oil Export in Nigeria (NOILEX) was statistically significant in explaining the variation in Economic Growth in Nigeria while Non-Oil Import in Nigeria (NOILIM) and Exchange Rate in Nigeria (EXCHR) were statistically insignificant in explaining the variation in Economic Growth in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommends that government should improve the . efficiency of Non-Oil Import in Nigeria (NOILIM) and Exchange Rate in Nigeria (EXCHR) since there were statistically significant in the long run in determining the improvement of Economic Growth in Nigeria.