The Impact of Power Outages on the Performance of the Manufacturing Sector in Nigeria. (1980-2018)

This paper examined the impact of power outages on the performance of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria from 1980 to 2018. The data used was secondary data sourced from the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) monthly bulletin and the central Bank of Nigeria statistical bulletin of various issues. The paper emphasized the need for the correct specification of the model on the basis of which estimation would be valid. The study carried out stationarity and cointegration tests. The result showed that exchange rate (EXR), electricity distribution loss (EDL), capacity utilization (CPU) and Government capital expenditure (GCE) are the significant variables that influence performance of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria. One strong outcome of the study is that despite the poor state of electricity supply, it still influences economic development in Nigeria. It is recommended that efforts be geared towards stabilizing the exchange rate in order to avoid fluctuations that affect prices of energy generating agencies by ensuring periodic replacement of worn out equipment and necessary tools in order to drastically reduce power losses.