ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of public infrastructure investment and economic growth in Nigeria using data from 1980 to 2022. An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was employed to examine the relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables. The RGDP is used as a function of government investment on transportation infrastructure, electricity, Healthcare and educational infrastructure. The Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) was used as proxy for economic growth. Stationarity test carried out showed that all the variables were stationary at first difference 1(1). Results of the parameter estimates reveals that all the variables except Electricity infrastructure had positive relationship with economic growth. The estimation showed that all the variables are co-integrated; meaning that there exist long run equilibrium relationship among the variables. It is recommended that for Nigeria to achieved infrastructure development that will triggered the economic growth and development, government should invest strongly in infrastructure services towards meeting global standard that would ensure revenue from its usage. Stakeholders in infrastructure sectors should galvanized resources towards accelerating the gains in infrastructure investment for a robust economic growth and development.