The Impact of Capital Market on Economic Growth in Nigeria

The Nigerian capital market has witnessed obvious transformation over the years, evident by the increased level of participation of the private and public investors at the floor of the stock exchange and in various public offers of quoted companies. The emerging market has also attracted and embraced the attention and the interest of international investors, thus increasing capital inflow. The overall market capitalisation had risen from 1,698.1 million naira in 1980 to 7030.8 billion naira in 2009, thus signifying an increase within the period. Transaction at the floor of NSE has risen to a total of 685716.2 million naira in 2009 from a previous value of 16.6m recorded in 1970. From the result obtained, capital market has positive and significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria. The capital market variables captured in the model such as market capitalization, number of deals and value of transactions were all positive and significant in promoting economic growth in Nigeria. It is important that the government should implement policies that will make the market more efficient and re-position it for growth within the Nigerian economy. Keywords: Capital Market, Economic Growth, Stock Exchange, Market Capitalisation