Romanus Osabohien

Working capital management is germane for the success of the banking industry in Nigeria, especially the current state of the sector, which is engulfed with the effect of the global decline in oil price that has resulted in non-performing loans, deterioration of the bank asset quality, laying-off of staff amongst others. This is one of the reasons why the profitability of the banking sector deeply depends on the efficient management of a bank’s working capital. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine how profitability of banks can be enhanced through the working capital management. To empirically carry out the analysis, panel data which consist of ten (10) deposit money banks in Nigeria for seven years (2010–2016) employing the panel fixed effect, panel random effect and the pooled OLS for the two models, which were used as proxies for bank profitability, which includes return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) to examine the best measure for bank profitability, with the indicators of working capital; net interest income, current ratio, profit after tax, and monetary policy rate. Results of the study showed that working capital management has a significant effect on the profitability of the selected banks and that return on asset is a better measure for bank profitability. Therefore, the study recommends that there should be a periodic review of the minimum capital base of the Nigerian deposit money banks so as to mitigate the effects of inflation and inculcate the consequence of time value of money, because the purchasing power of one (₦1) naira or one ($1) dollar today would not be sufficient to purchase what it can purchase today for tomorrow.

The advent of globalization has spurred the level of foreign direct investment (FDI), which has increased the employment level and economic growth in countries around the world. This scenario has also been debated in the extant literature. It is on this backdrop that this study was inspired to examine the relationship between FDI and the level of employment in Nigeria. The article uses the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and the Johansen co-integration econometric approach on the data, which were sourced from the World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin. The investigation period covered thirty-two years (1985–2017). Also, the authors adopted the theory of absorptive capacity as the baseline for the model. Results obtained from the study showed that foreign direct investment is statistically significant and positively related to the employment level in Nigeria. These findings imply that a 1 unit increase in the inflow of foreign direct investment to the Nigerian economy is capable of increasing the level of employment by about 0.97 units. Therefore, based on findings, the study is concluded by recommendations that the Nigerian economy should become viable through effective trade policies and programs, which are capable of attracting foreign direct investment into the Nigerian economy for employment creation.

Acknowledgment(s)
The publication support received from Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and Discovery (CUCRID) is appreciated

This study examined the operational characteristics of MSEs and their contributions towards addressing the national challenge of unemployment. The research was based on Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria. The study employed descriptive analysis and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression technique in estimating the data obtained. The administration of questionnaire was applied to collect the data. The study found out that micro and small-scale enterprises contributed to economic growth through their operational activities, via the job creation in the economy. Thus, the study recommended that government policies should be put in place to encourage micro and small enterprises, and the provision of infrastructures, credit facilities, tax holidays, training program, amongst others, for MSEs. It was also recommended for funding agencies to consider the trends of practicing MSEs towards addressing critical economic and social issues such as job creation, in granting them funding facilities, in order to facilitate continuous participation in job creation among Nigerian MSEs.

Acknowledgment
The authors appreciate the Management of Covenant University for funding the publishing of this manuscript in this journal.