Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Growth and Unemployment in Nigeria

Abstract

The rate of unemployment has always been calling for attention in most of the sub-Saharan Africa countries. The situation is also pertinent in Nigeria despite inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) and rise in gross domestic product (GDP). The study investigates the impact of FDI and GDP on unemployment in Nigeria using time series data spanning 1981 to 2017; descriptive and inferential statistics of ordinary least square (OLS) method were used. Results of the analysis reveal there is growth and expansion in both FDI and GDP over the years, while further results from OLS show that both FDI and GDP have significant impact on unemployment rate in Nigeria for the period under study. In view of this, it is recommended amongst others that government should develop a reliable and attainable macroeconomic framework that will accelerate and ensure employment generation through the expansion and increase in FDI and GDP in the country.