PurposeThe article examines the possible long-run and short-run impact of regulatory quality on stock market performance in Nigeria for 1996–2019 period.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test and cointegrating regression techniques.FindingsFindings reveal that regulatory quality positively and significantly influences the performance of stock market, which strengthens the view that market-enhancing governance can engender an improvement in stock market performance. The study further demonstrates that quality of the regulatory environment is a critical component of market operations, since the improvement of the operation of stock market performance depends on appropriate policy measures, which could be the outcome of improved governance.Practical implicationsIt is suggested that, while improving the institutional environment is a challenge to regulators, there is need for strong and effective regulatory mechanism to enhance the development of stock market in the country.Originality/valueBased on the two competing hypotheses and limited attention, previous studies accorded the role of regulatory quality in the performance of stock market in the context of Nigeria. This study assessed the gap in the literature by taking the task of validating the impact of regulatory quality on stock market development.

In sub – Saharan Africa, weak institutions and the rising concern for improved business environment offer considerable leverage for enhancing the effectiveness of institutional framework, capital inflows, and public investment efficiency. These have put SSA in the global spotlight in recent times. Hence, the study examines the mediating effect of governance on FDI – growth nexus in 35 SSA countries between 2002 and 2017 using panel data techniques (Pooled OLS, Fixed Effects, and Panel-Corrected Standard Error’ (PCSE) estimation) and the Dynamic One – Step Difference and System GMM. Results indicate that control of corruption, political stability and regulatory quality, including governance composite index, have a positive and significant effect on economic growth, suggesting that institutions have a salutary impact on SSA economies. The findings further show that FDI inflows adversely influence growth owing to insufficient absorptive capacity that could enhance FDI effectiveness in the region. More importantly, the pervasiveness of poor governance in SSA is identified as a critical case that undermines the development of the nexus between FDI and economic growth. Thus, the study suggests that FDI – growth linkage would be enhanced by promoting a strong institutional environment that offers a good mechanism for attaining the actual FDI spillover potential through a policy framework that points the path towards cost-effective measures in SSA. Also, there should be core investment policies across African countries that would induce the private sector in consolidating government efforts and resources aimed at improving international competitiveness by diversifying the region’s economies away from a protracted commodity – based.

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The COVID-19 pandemic came as a shock to the global economy and its impact was well felt. However, it came with the possibility of implementing structural policies and reforms. The pandemic slowed down economic activities in the global market and translated into crashed oil prices, which gave room for reforms such as subsidy removal. Nigeria maximized the opportunity to remove the full subsidy on petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). But the possibility was not last enough for the populace to enjoy. COVID-19 pandemic and its consequence on oil price had affected the Nigerian economy by ways of fiscal constraint, loss of revenue, the exit of businesses in the market, job cuts and soaring unemployment rate. Exchange rate fluctuation is prevalent, the inflation rate is on the rise and thereby, poverty incidence has increased. In cushioning the effect of the pandemic, governments at all levels, religious bodies, businesses and individuals donated towards the fight and support of people during the pandemic. Nigeria should maintain a strong economic basis, single its double sides of being exporter and importer at the same time; and ensure local refining of the petroleum products. Also, it has come of age for developing a national package to forestall a similar crisis in an instance of similar occurrence.

The study examined the asymmetric relationship between exchange rate volatility and macroeconomic performance in Nigeria covering the period between 1986Q1 and 2019Q4. The Non-linear Generalised Autoregressive Distributive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model was employed. The study was motivated as a result of periodic increase in exchange rate of naira to a dollar and instability of macroeconomic variables in the economy. The presence of Autoregressive Distributive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (ARCH) effect established the use of non-linear GARCH models which showed that volatility was persistent over the period of study. Consequently, the result revealed that exchange rate volatility exhibited a positive relationship with trade balance, industrial output and inflation in the study period. Thus, good news prevailed more over bad news in the foreign exchange market. The study therefore recommended that monetary authorities in Nigeria should regulate exchange rate and macroeconomic variables in order to control the general price level in the economy.