The rising spate of inflation in Nigeria has become worrisome in recent years, considering its implications on the quest for tourism development in the country. This study, therefore, empirically evaluates the effect of inflation on the Nigerian tourism industry. Two tourism indicators (tourism arrivals and tourism receipt) are employed in this study for robustness and quarterly data on relevant variables for the period between 1995Q1 and 2020Q4 were analysed using different econometric approaches. The results of all the estimation methods unanimously revealed a trade-off between inflation and the two tourism indicators, signalling that inflation dissuades international tourist arrival and lower tourism revenue in Nigeria. Hence, the Nigerian monetary authority must ensure price stability by keeping the inflation rate at a desirable level in a bid to foster tourism development in the country.

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Authors: Isiaka Raifu Akande and Joshua Adeyemi Afolabi

This study simulates the effect of fuel subsidy removal on different categories of inflation in Nigeria using the novel dynamic simulated autoregressive distributed lag framework. Findings revealed heterogeneity in the inflationary effect of an increase in premium motor spirit price across locations, and that the recent fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria will have long-lasting negative inflationary effects.

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Authors: Isiaka Akande Raifu, Joshua Adeyemi Afolabi
 

This study examines the effect of access to clean fuel and technology on health outcomes, drawing a comparison between Africa and Asia over the period 2000–2021. Using Generalised Least Squares, our findings revealed that access to clean fuel and technology improves health outcomes in both regions, suggesting that having access to clean fuel and technology is indispensable to improving health outcomes in Africa and Asia. Thus, governments in the two regions should prioritise and invest in technology that provides access to clean energy.

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Authors: Isiaka Raifu Akande and Nantap Rejoice Ditep

A viable economy's hallmark is its ability to generate positive growth rates and its capacity to sustain such growth, especially during a crisis. Economic crises have the potential to induce uncertainty, reverse pre-crisis economic gains and force preexisting challenges to reemerge, necessitating actions on building economic resilience. Given the fragility of most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the current paper evaluates the role of institutional quality (INSQ) and human capital development in boosting economic resilience in SSA. The sampled countries were classified into fragile and resilient countries. Annual data spanning 2000–2021 was obtained and analyzed using the Bias-Corrected Method of Moments (BCMM) estimation method, which can adequately account for cross-sectional dependence, endogeneity, and heterogeneity in the sample.

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Authors: Joshua Adeyemi Afolabi, Isiaka Akande Raifu

With the widening saving-investment gap and the limited domestic financial resources to drive development imperatives in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), foreign direct investment (FDI) is considered a viable and sustainably promising option for boosting employment generation and closing gender gaps in employment. This paper provides critical insights into the gender and age-based employment effect of FDI in SSA and the role of institutional quality in shaping the relationship. The two-step generalized method of moments modelling framework was adopted to analyse relevant data of 29 SSA countries over the 2000-2021 period. The results revealed that FDI has a significant employment-enhancing effect irrespective of gender and age considerations. We also find that institutional quality amplifies this effect. Efforts should, therefore, be concentrated on improving institutional quality, the success of which will appeal to foreign investors and attract more foreign investments.

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AUTHORS:Isiaka Akande Raifu, Joshua Adeyemi Afolabi, Abdulkhalid Anda Salihu