The Effect of M-Commerce on Nigeria’s Economic Growth

Abstract

This paper seeks to assess the implications of mobile commerce on the economy of Nigeria. Ordinary least square technique, correlation matrix test and Granger –causality test were employed to measure the extent to which the gross domestic product was influenced. The result showed that internet penetration and telecommunication contribution impacted positively on gross domestic product of Nigeria; mobile penetration had negative and statistically insignificant effect on gross domestic product; while mobile penetration aids m-commerce in Nigeria, it negatively affects Nigeria’s trade balance and economic growth due to huge imports of mobile phones. It is therefore recommended that government should encourage local production of mobile phones and where she lacks the technology to do so, encourage foreign direct investment inflow of foreign mobile phone producers in Nigeria.

Keywords: economic growth; internet penetration; m-commerce (mobile commerce); mobile penetration.