Paper Contents
Abstract
The study examined the moderating effect of maritime transport and economic development in Nigeria, 1980-2023. The objectives were to determine the effect of: i). crude oil, ii). dry bulk and iii). non-oil transport on real gross domestic product in Nigeria and iv), the moderating effect of maritime transport and economic development in Nigeria, 1980-2023. The study adopted the ex-post factor research design. Data for the study were generated from National Bureau of statistics, central bank of Nigeria, Nigeria port authority Statistical Bulletins. The Augmented Dickey Fuller unit root test was used to test for the stationarity of the variables. Based on the outcome of the bounced co integration test result, the auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model estimation technique was adopted for the study. The findings of study revealed that crude oil transport is useful in achieving effective and efficient economic development. The study revealed that dry bulk transports represent the most common movement models and that the dry bulk transport is divided into major bulk transport (iron ore, coal and grain) and minor bulk transport (phosphate, bauxite, soya, rice, sugar, fertilizers, metal and minerals, steel products and forest products). The study observed that dry bulk transport is very impactful in improving the economic wellbeing of people in Nigeria. The study found that non-oil transportation in Nigeria contribute to the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually, injects values added to GDP, industry revenue and profits. Conclusively, the study has revealed that crude oil transport has positive and significant effect on real GDP, dry bulk transport has positive and insignificant effect on real GDP and non-oil transport has negative and insignificant effect on real GDP in Nigeria. Conclusively, it is evident that: Crude oil transport has positive and significant effect on real gross domestic products (t 11.028 @ p0.000 <0.05); dry bulk transport has positive and insignificant effect on real gross domestic products (t 1.903 @ p0.064>0.05); non-oil transport has negative and insignificant effect on real gross domestic products in Nigeria (t -1.210@p0.234>0.05). Also, foreign exchange rate has significant moderating effect on maritime transport and economic development in Nigeria ( t8.239, t4.147 @ p0.000<0.05). The study therefore recommended that: Government should harness the effective and efficient use of the mixed-policy approach involving monetary, fiscal and trade policies to reduce import and encourage consumption of local products and motivate exporters to use non-oil and dry bulk transport thereby boosting the development of Nigeria economy. Government should throw its searchlight in the maritime sector with a view to creating the enabling environment for investments to thrive. Maritime transport has the capacity to take over from oil as a revenue earner
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Copyright © 2025 ONYECHE, Uchenna . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
