The role of foreign direct investment in economic development: A study of Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment flows and economic growth in Nigeria. The study became necessary because as never before, the civilian governments since 1999 have employed several strategies to ensure increased flow of FDI into Nigeria because of its perceived benefits as lauded in the theoretical literature as the panacea for economic underdevelopment. The study utilized simple OLS regression analysis and conducted various econometrics tests on our model so as to obtain the best linear unbiased estimators. The study confirmed the beneficial role of FDI in growth. However, the role of FDI on growth could be limited by human capital. The study concluded that indeed, FDI promotes economic growth, and hence the need for more infrastructural development, ensuring sound macroeconomic environment as well as ensuring human capital development is essential to boosting FDI productivity and flow into the country.