Financial inclusion has been recognized as a development policy priority and a key to economic growth in developing economies. Essentially, most Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have witnessed unstable economic growth over the last three decades. Financial inclusiveness is fundamental to sustainable growth for any economy. This study investigates the effects of financial inclusion on 41 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2004–2019, employing the generalized method of moments (GMM) method and a Granger causality analysis. The results show a positive relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth. The non-causality tests revealed bi-directional causality between the variables for the whole region and low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Furthermore, a unidirectional causality runs from financial inclusion to economic growth in upper-middle-income countries. The study concluded that financial inclusion positively affects the economic growth of SSA and recommends that policies and interventions be redefined in the financial system to achieve steady economic growth and sustainability.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the accrual-based managed earnings behavior of firms in Nigeria. The panel corrected standard errors (PCSE) multivariate method was employed to analyze firm-level data for 125 firms and covers the 11 sectors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The results of the Welch–Satterthwaite test show a significant difference between the pre-adoption (2003–2011) and post adoption (2012–2020) discretionary accruals. These variables conformed to the a priori expectation and are all significant in the most parsimonious models. Contrary to some developed countries, the data does not support the idea that leverage, growth, and book-to-market value influence managed earnings for Nigeria. Managed earnings are not solely time-driven but are explained by certain firm characteristics (IFRS adoption, post-adoption firm-size, post-adoption audit firm’s size, returns on equity and asset turnover). Future research could explore opportunities in the areas of limitation we identified.

Purpose: There is evidence that managers engage in opportunistic practice to manipulate reported performance to attract unsuspecting investors. This paper seeks to detect the likelihood of manipulations on the financial reports of financial service firms (banks and other financial institutions) as well as to identify the financial indicators that are the likely predictors of the probability of manipulations in Nigeria.   Theoretical framework: The M-score models, from Beneish (1999), are employed as theoretical basis for the paper. The model use financial ratios computed using accounting data to confirm the probability that firms’ reported earnings are manipulated.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The study uses data from the Nigerian Exchange Group, from 2010 to 2019 to compute M8/M5-scores and classify firms into likely manipulators and unlikely manipulators. In addition, a probit regression model was applied to establish financial ratios that significantly predict the likelihood of FSF amongst the financial firms. Findings: The results based on M8 (M5)-score indicate that 26.67% (23.33%) of firms likely manipulate financial books and exhibit the possibility of FSF. In addition, only sales in receivable, sales growth, depreciation expenses, leverage and accruals to assets ratios are found to be (positive) significant predictors of the probability of manipulations.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The implication of the outcome is that subjecting financial statements to empirical and statistical scrutiny should not be ignored because it would detect and reduce associated risks to manipulations. Therefore, more regulatory interventions and empirical auditing of reports are needed to ensure their readability and reliability to the investors.   Originality/Value: The study offers a novel and first evidence, based on Beneish M-score, to scrutinise reports of financial firms in Nigeria. The evidence ensures quality reporting of the financial statements in order to credibility as well as protect the integrity of the capital markets.

Capital flight can cause challenges regarding the domestic availability of financial resources in sustaining domestic investment in Nigeria. The purpose of this study is to examine the connection between capital flight components and domestic investment in Nigeria. The study employed the autoregressive distributive lag model (ARDL) to analyze the time series data for Nigeria spanning from 1981 to 2018. The study found that changes in external debt, current account balance, and foreign direct investments have a negative effect on domestic investments in the short run and long run. Furthermore, the results obtained show that the intercept has a positive effect on domestic investment. The long-run coefficient of current account balance has a positive effect, while the other components of capital flight – foreign direct investment, external reserves and external debt – have a negative effect on domestic investment. The error correction coefficient is significant and conforms to the a priori expectation. Hence, the study concludes that growth in domestic investment can be achieved by regulating the components of capital flight within the desirable limits. The study recommends that emphasis should be placed on the components of capital flight to stimulate domestic investment for economic growth.