Foundations of Growth: Evaluating the Interplay Between Infrastructure and Economic Growth in Nigeria

Infrastructure is a critical component of economic growth, as it enhances productivity, facilitates trade, and improves the quality of life. This study therefore employs a two-pronged analytical framework to investigate the extent to which infrastructure impact on economic growth in Nigeria. First, the Toda-Yamamoto causality test is used to determine the nature of causality among the study variables, while the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique is utilized to investigate the short run and long run effects of infrastructure on economic growth. The study findings show that a 1 percent increase in telecommunications infrastructure contributes approximately 0.17 percent to the growth of the Nigerian economy. In contrast, the transport and power sectors demonstrate negligible long-term impacts on Nigeria’s economic growth. Therefore, this study emphasizes the necessity for the federal government of Nigeria to expand public-private partnerships (PPPs) to mobilize resources for infrastructure development. Such partnerships are expected to leverage private sector expertise, improve project efficiency, and alleviate the financial burden on the government, thereby fostering economic growth in Nigeria.