| 1 |
Author(s):
Ahmed Gharira, Dr. Kalim Siddiqui.
Page No : 1-14
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Commercialisation of Agriculture: Olive Farming in Al Jouf Province, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
The current study investigates issues related to the Commercialization of Agriculture in Saudi Arabia in the light of various theories of sustainable agriculture. The rationale for this study is needed to investigate the importance of a Commercialization of the agriculture sector as the country diversifies its sources of revenue. The aim of the government is to reinvigorate the country’s once-thriving agricultural sector in the interests of food security by minimizing its need for food importation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with farm workers and managers to elicit their views on the current state of agriculture in Saudi Arabia, the challenges they faced due to arid climatic conditions, and their opinions as to what needed to be prioritized in government agrarian policies. The key findings which emerged from thematic analysis are then presented and discussed. The study concludes with recommendations that the participants considered important for facing the challenges to sustainable agriculture in desert regions.
| 2 |
Author(s):
Asogwa T. Henry, Ugwuoti Amos Iloabuchi, Ezenekwe R. Uju, Onyukwu E. Onyukwu, Ezebuilo R. Ukwueze, Uzochukwu Amakom.
Page No : 15-29
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A Panel Snapshot of Climate Change (CO2) Emission on Health Risk: The Case of Relating Sub-Saharan Africa to Different Country Regions
Abstract
The rising concern that the effect of climate change on population health risk is gradually generating significant attention. This no doubt influenced the exploration of climate change (co2) emission on population health risk in the case of relating African to different income regions. This study made use of fixed panel cross-sectional analysis, descriptive analysis and correlation coefficient index to estimate the study objective which was to investigate the effects of climate change (co2) emission on population health risk among different country income regions from 2000 to 2021 from the World Bank Indicators (WBI) across the selected income countries and region. Findings showed that climate change (Co2) emission per capita, gross domestic product per capita, and food production index, have negative and significant effects on population health risk, whereas, urban population defecation has a positive and significant effect on the population health risk among different country regions. Specifically, carbon dioxide emissions (C02) (c02empc) are highly associated with High-Income countries (HIC) when compared to other income regions. Hence, argued that attention should be to infrastructural sustainability and provision to maintain a clean environment. In addition, more energy should be channelled into food production and livestock production, especially for low-income regions to mitigate the overall effects of carbon dioxide emissions (C02) (c02empc) to tackle food security. Urgent policy actions and responses to air and water quality as useful adaptation strategies in the wider context of climate affect resilience for low-income regions like SSA countries.
| 3 |
Author(s):
Degena Telgel Lakew.
Page No : 30-63
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The Role of Manufacturing and Service Exports in Ethiopia’s Economic Growth Performance
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of manufacturing and service exports in Ethiopia’s economic growth performance from 1995 until 2018. To accomplish the objective, the study developed two versions of an augmented Solow’s (1956) model. Both versions include manufacturing and service exports as potential determinants of total factor productivity (TFF). However, the first version proxies physical capital accumulation with the investment rate, and the second version uses capital per worker. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing results of the first version suggest that there is no long-run relationship among the variables. Moreover, the investment ratio and labour force growth rate variables are statistically insignificant, which contradicts the theoretical predictions of the Solow model. On the other hand, the second version of the Solow model with capital per worker shows evidence of a long-run cointegrating relationship among the variables which support the manufacturing export-led growth hypothesis in Ethiopia, in which manufacturing exports are statistically significant, while service exports are statistically insignificant in the long run. Conversely, the results of the first version show that capital per worker has a positive and significant effect on Ethiopia’s economic growth performance. Overall, the main findings suggest that the Ethiopian government should strengthen current policies that emphasize manufacturing exports and maintain high investment rates in physical capital.
| 4 |
Author(s):
Omeonu P.E., Babalola D.A., Nwankwo I.V..
Page No : 64-74
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Can Public Health Expenditure Influence National Productivity in an Agrarian Economy? Evidence from Nigeria
Abstract
Despite the nation’s wealth in natural and human resources, productivity measure in Nigeria has not been satisfactory. Several factors have been alluded to be responsible for this. This paper investigated the impact of public health expenditure (with gross capital formation and secondary school enrolment as control variables) on national productivity (real GDP divided by working population as proxy) in Nigeria between 2000 and 2020. The theoretical foundation was based on Solow Neo-classical and Romer Endogenous growth models. The unit root test showed that variables were stationary at level. The descriptive result shows significant fluctuations in government domestic expenditure on health with an average of 18% of total health expenditure. Regression results showed a significant and positive relationship between healthcare service expenditures and productivity in Nigeria. The study recommended that Nigerian health policies should focus on developing the domestic health sector by increasing yearly budgetary allocation to the sector.
| 5 |
Author(s):
C.O. Okwelum, PhD.
Page No : 75-99
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Critical Legal Issues in State Participation in the Oil Business in Nigeria: Any Success?
Abstract
Since the finding of oil and independence in Nigeria in the 1960s, State participation in the oil business has been tremendous ranging from the enactment of state ownership of oil legal regimes to the creation of national oil companies and refineries. Change in the ideological climate of ownership due to the end of the cold war has equally underscored renewed incursion of multinational oil companies into the oil business with a variety of joint venture and production-sharing contracts with the national oil company: NNPCL. Further opening of the gates for local content development has also seen the emergence of local content vehicles and private refineries on the Nigerian oil business landscape. This study which employs the doctrinal method critically surveys the international and municipal dynamics that resulted in State ownership theories of minerals, the resource conflicts wars and corruption they have bred and the pernicious tenacity with which multinational oil companies have remained relevant on the oil business landscape without any demonstrable contribution in the downstream sector and gas-flare-down. The study equally underscores the circumstances in which the seven sisters have underpinned and shoved the Nigerian state into blurred privatisation, deregulation and liberalisation policies. The study finds that the participation of the State in business has neither grown the economy by meeting the energy requirement of the people through state refineries nor has it employed its legislative management to get the multinationals to do so through private refineries. What the nation has harvested is a basket of corruption, poverty and underdevelopment concluding that State participation in the oil business has been a failure.
| 6 |
Author(s):
Appah Ebimobowei (PhD), Iweias Seth Sokari (PhD).
Page No : 100-128
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Taxes and Income Inequality in Nigeria: 1980 – 2020
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between taxes and income inequality in Nigeria from 1980 to 2020. The specific objectives were to investigate the relationship between personal income tax and Gini coefficient, evaluate the relationship between company’s income tax and Gini coefficient, assess the relationship between petroleum profit tax and Gini coefficient, determine the relationship between capital gain tax and Gini coefficient, investigate the relationship between value added tax and Gini coefficient, evaluate the relationship between custom and excise duty and Gini coefficient from 1980 to 2020 in Nigeria. The study adopted ex post facto and correlational research design. The population of the study consisted of taxes and gini coefficient in Nigeria from 1980 to 2020. The secondary data were sourced from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of various publications ranging from 1980 to 2020. The study used univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis. The results revealed a positive and insignificant relationship between personal income tax company’s income tax (CIT), petroleum profit tax (PPT), capital gain tax (CGT), value added tax (VAT), custom excise duties (CED) and Gini coefficient for the period under study, while strong positive relationship when literacy rate moderate tax structure, and weak positive and insignificant relationship. On the basis of the findings, the study concluded that taxes such as personal income tax, company income tax, petroleum profit tax, capital gain tax, value added tax and customs and excise duties influence the level of income inequality in Nigeria. The study recommends, amongst other things, that the government should ensure compliance to tax payments, because taxes provide a powerful policy tool effectively used for curing economic and social ills and should not to be set too high, as this would discourage investments.
| 7 |
Author(s):
Attah Emmanuel Yusuf, Wada Joseph.
Page No : 129-136
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Assessing the Contribution of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises to the Economic Growth of Kogi State, Nigeria
Abstract
This paper sought to determine the contribution of small and medium scale enterprises to the economic growth of Kogi State, Nigeria. The specific objectives examined the impact of small and medium enterprises on employment generation in Kogi State as well as their impact on poverty reduction. The population of the study comprised 134 small and medium enterprises in Kogi State. A sample size of 100 was derived from the population using Taro Yamane’s formula. Chi-square was used to test the formulated hypotheses using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings revealed that small and medium enterprises have a positive impact on employment generation and also have a significant impact on poverty reduction in Kogi State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it is concluded that small and medium enterprises have a significant impact on the economic growth of Kogi State, Nigeria. It is recommended, among others, that governments at all levels should encourage the establishment of more microfinance banks to enable SMEs to have increased access to funding at a reduced cost in order to boost their growth and also ensure the provision of a business friendly environment by adjusting harsh economic policies so as to help SMEs to grow.
| 8 |
Author(s):
Epor Okaja Simon, Yua Henry, Nwakoby Clement.
Page No : 137-151
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Fiscal Policy, Private Investment and Manufacturing Sector Performance: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria with ARDL Technique
Abstract
One of the greatest challenges of the Sub-Saharan African economies today is how to develop the appropriate model that will propel development in the continent. The manufacturing sector instances in China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and Japan are clear models to adopt for Nigeria. The question now is, what has Nigeria been doing to develop the manufacturing sector? To this end, this study set out to examine the effect of fiscal policy and private investment on the performance of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria from 1981 to 2021. The study is time series in nature and made use of the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modelling technique. It was found that domestic private investment and aggregate government spending exert a significant positive influence on the manufacturing sector performance in the long run, while the influence from tax and government revenue was significantly negative. It was then recommended that government should improve on the factors that attract more FDI inflows into the country; boosts requisite educational training skills and financial market depth to drive the influence of domestic private investment on the manufacturing sector; increase government spending on the manufacturing sector development; and that tax revenues be judiciously utilized in the long-run so that they can positively impact the manufacturing sector.
