Infrastructural Decay in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from the Nigerian Manufacturing Sector

The growth and development of any nation is highly dependent on the level of infrastructure. Infrastructural decay has taken a big toll on the economic development of most Sub- Saharan African nations. This paper investigated the effect infrastructural decay on the growth of the manufacturing sector in Sub- Saharan Africa with particular reference to the Nigerian situation. The data necessary for this study were obtained from secondary sources. The results of unit root suggest that all the variables in the model are stationary. The ordinary least square regression with a coefficient of 0.92 revealed a strong positive relationship between the variables of interest. A co-integration test was performed on these variables to determine the long-run relationship between the variables. The results of causality tests suggest that electricity supply, transport infrastructure and inflation rate (the explanatory variables) jointly explain changes in the manufacturing sector performance. The result also reveals a one-way causation running from interest rate to manufacturing sector performance. The Johansen cointegration result reveals the existence of a common trend among the variables of interest. Electricity decay was found to have the greatest negative impact on the manufacturing sector's financial performance and output followed by inflation and transportation. The government is therefore enjoined to continue the reform programmes across the infrastructural segments of the economy.