Infrastructures Development, Environmental Quality and Economic Growth in Nigeria

Abstract

The Earth as a planet supports human life, living and activities, attracting extensive and intensive socioeconomic influences on the economy. Such activities like infrastructures development exerts increasing and divers environmental quality concerns and hence the economic growth. While these variables appear interrelated due to many factors including population growth, urbanisation, etc. However, the relationship between infrastructures, environment and economic growth is not largely known especially in Nigeria. This study therefore investigated their relationship using time series data between 1990 and 2019 by adopting Co-integration estimation technique through the Bound test approach of auto regressive distributive lag method using percentage share of building and construction sector of gross domestic product (GDP), carbon dioxide, population growth GDP growth rate, etc. as variables. The study revealed that the infrastructures development and environmental quality explain economic growth and have both short and long run relationships while specifically population growth and agriculture, forestry, fishing, value added variables are positively significant to economic growth. The findings evidences of both short and long run relationships among the variables are significant and it is consequently recommended that new roles for infrastructure sets and production processes should consider environmental quality mindsets to achieve positive green economy outcomes in Nigeria. JEL Classifications: O18, O44, Q5