Trade Liberalisation and Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria, 1999-2007
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/ECX59Keywords:
Liberalisation, Trade, Socio-economic DevelopmentAbstract
Trade liberalization is generally seen as the antidote for underdevelopment in the developing countries. The classical view as advocated by Adams Smith is associated with the idea that markets perform better when they are left alone with government performing minimal functions. The approach is one of laissez-faire and the strongest conviction that free market can generate economic development. The introduction of this policy has brought enormous gains to the Western countries and those of Asian Tigers. However, the same policy has not benefited developing countries whose economies are labour intensive. The economy of Nigeria has suffered from inefficiency as a result of misapplication of policies. Instead of yielding economic development, the implementation of trade liberalization has kept Nigeria under the balance of payment problem. Even when the country had experienced increase in GDP, there has been no corresponding socio-economic development and the question of how far Nigeria has gone with free trade needs an answer. This work seeks to examine the impact of trade liberalization and socio-economic development in Nigeria, 1999 to 2007. World system theory was adopted as the framework of analysis in understanding the trade relationship between Nigeria as a peripheral state and the advanced capitalist states. The research design used herein was descriptive. Consequently, the work relied mainly on secondary sources of data collection, such as publications from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, books journals, articles and internet materials. The findings revealed that trade liberalization has failed to impact positively on socio-economic development due to corruption, low capacity utilisation of existing industries and lack of support on the development of SMEs. The paper recommended among others, a massive development of critical infrastructures, development of SMEs, provision of enabling environment for business to thrive, diversification of the economy, and formulation of policies on export promotion.
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