An Analysis of the Impact of Seaport Efficiency on Nigeria's Economic Growth.

This research is driven by the objective to assess the impact of the seaport efficiency on Nigeria’s economic growth. The western ports of Lagos are selected as the Decision-Making Units (DMU) for this study covering the period of 2000 to 2020. Two stage estimation process is employed. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was deployed in the first stage to generate the efficiency index required to test the relationships. In the second stage, the efficiency index so generated is introduced as one of the independent variables in a multiple regression model, using Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL). The finding shows that seaport efficiency has a negative but significant relationship with economic growth in both the long run and short run. The study concludes that seaport efficiency has an inverse relationship with Nigeria’s economic growth. The result of this study suggests that reforms may not have deepened the level of efficiency in the Nigerian seaport to drive positive economic growth, hence the recommendation for further investment in the terminal operational equipment and technological infrastructure to drive further efficiency in the sector.