An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme on Economic Growth in Nigeria

This study empirically analyses the impact of ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) on Economic Growth in Nigeria for the period 1990 -2018. Data from the CBN Statistical Bulletin and ECOWAS annual year book were used for the study.while the Auto Regressive Distributive Lag Model (ARDL) was employed to analyse the data. The findings reveal that ETLS is statistically significant in stimulating economic growth in Nigeria in both the long and short run for the period under review. Diagnostic tests confirm that the model is free from serial correlation, with residuals normally distributed. The CUSUM and CUSUMSQ show that the model is structurally stable while the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) indicates that once there is disequilibrium in the system, it takes an average (high) speed of 42.6% to adjust itself back towards long-run equilibrium level. The study recommends that Nigerian government must as a matter of urgency come up with policies and programmes that will make Nigeria a key player in the effective implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme so as to stimulate economic growth and also the need to strengthen the mechanisms and streamline the procedures involved in the ETLS to be able to improve the intra-ECOWAS trade to desired levels as well as Nigeria should also initiate the process of the review of the ETLS Protocols in line with current realities and happenings in the trade arena such as the AFCFTA negotiation ongoing in the African Continent.