The role of manufacturing sector in Nigeria's Economic Development

Abstract

Over time, the absence of locally sourced inputs has resulted in low industrialization. This is as a result of the near total neglect of agriculture which has denied many manufacturers their primary source of raw materials. Some constrains faced in this sector among others include; high interest rates, low patronage, unpredictable government policy. The paper thus, empirically examines the role of manufacturing sector in gearing economic growth in Nigeria from 1986-2014. Time series experimental research was adopted. Unit root test was carried out to test the stationarity levels of the variables before conducting the regression analysis to avoid spurious regression results. The co-integration results showed that long-run equilibrium relationship exist among the variables used for the analysis at 5% level of significance. The findings revealed that variations in demand are a significant driving force for variations in capacity utilization. The findings further showed that a percentage change in manufacturing output on average increases GDP by 0.04%. Suggestive from the analysis therefore is that there is need for provision of incentives for productive diversification through information externalities and co-ordination externalities. Also, there should be promotion of regionally integrated value chains and markets to enhance investment in manufacturing and other sectors to enhance industrial competitiveness and regional economic transformation.