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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The attainment of sustainable economic growth remains a paramount objective of every country. A primary source required for achieving this objective is through increased domestic productivity. However, for this to occur, such country must be able to create sufficient domestic physical capital to stimulate such desired economic growth. In other words, fixed capital formation is a major contributor, catalyst and determinant of a country’s economic growth.

Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) according to the World Bank (2014) refers to fixed assets accumulation such as land improvements, equipment, machinery construction of roads and railways, building of schools etcetera, required for augmenting a country’s economic productivity. This definition reiterates and captures the predictions of Romer (2008) and Lucas (2007) Growth Models which stipulates that increased growth rates can be achieved by increasing capital accumulation. Also, the building of schools leads to improved educational enrolment rate which will enhance the quality of human capital. The improvement of human capital in this regards will ensure innovation, invention and enhancement of productivity in the economy. Likewise, the investment in machinery and equipment will also increase the efficiency of labour productivity. Furthermore, Bakare (2011) explained capital formation as the “proportion of present income saved and invested in order to augment future output and income". This definition buttresses the importance of savings as an integral element needed for creating (GFCF) and enhancing economic growth. Therefore, it can be concluded that a country with low domestic marginal propensity to save is likely to have poor capital formation which potentially impedes economic growth and vice versa. This is because, such country will have an insufficient pool of loanable funds for domestic investment into physical capital. More importantly, the availability of quality physical capital attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow, which is an integral macro-economic variable necessary for increasing a country’s economic prosperity. In a broader perspective, capital formation in the financial economics lingual refers to savings drives, developing of capital and secondary markets and privatizing financial institutions (Ray, 2013). Ray, (2013) opined that GFCF results in increased production in the long run which eventually causes share prices to rise, thus increasing profitability which in the end has a positive spillover effect on a country’s economic growth. Based on the discussion so far, an intuitive conclusion that a key precondition for ensuring and enhancing sustainable economic growth is through increased fixed capital formation. This study is geared towards investigating the effect of sustainable infrastructural development on economic growth in Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In recent years, Nigeria has experienced increased infrastructural transformation in terms of building of more schools, road, telecommunication facilities and etcetera. However, there are only a few studies found to have investigated the impact that these infrastructural development has on Nigeria’s economic growth. Thus, the aim of this study is geared towards contributing to the existing studies by investigating the contribution and impact that infrastructural development has on Nigeria’s economic growth.

1.3 Objectives of the study

The aim of this research work is to examine the effect of sustainable infrastructural development on economic development of Nigeria.  The specific objectives of this research work include the following:

1.  To examine the effect of sustainable infrastructure on the gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria.

2.  To evaluate the impact of infrastructural development on the Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) of Nigeria.

3.  To explore the impact that infrastructural development has on Nigeria’s economic growth.

4.  To investigate whether there is causal relationship existing between infrastructural development and economic growth in Nigeria.

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