Assessment of the Impact of Ocean Transport on Nigerian Economy: Error Correction Term Approach

Abstract

This study examined the impact of Ocean Transport on the Nigerian Economy. The main objective of the study is to ascertain the effect of Ocean transportation on the Nigerian economy as an emerging market. The study evaluated the effect of sea trade captured by export and import business on the economy of  Nigeria proxy by ratio of import to gdp and ratio of export to gross domestic product, and cargo throughput and gross registered tonnage and also, the effect of Seaport performance on the Nigeria economy using secondary data from the Nigeria Port Authority, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the World Bank. The work further utilized empirical exploration of other scholar’s work. The variables of interests were tested at the 0.05 significance level using selected econometric methods such as ordinary least square and Error Correction Model. The findings revealed a statistical significance between Ocean transportation and the Nigerian Economy, and concludes that Ocean Transportation significantly contributes to the gross domestic product of the Nigerian economy as an emerging market with a speed of convergence of 140.66% from the short-term period to the long-term period. The study recommends amongst others, the provision of key modern port infrastructures including dredging of the seaports to improve the Nigerian port performance and enhance revenue generation.