Vocational Training Institutions and Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria

Abstract

This study assesses the effects of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on vocational skills enhancement in Nigeria, spanning the years 1985 to 2023, employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology. The empirical outcomes reveal a notable, yet negative, short-term effect, while a stable long-term correlation was not observed. These results imply that the mere attraction of FDI is inadequate; instead, policy interventions must strategically channel investments into sectors exhibiting more robust human capital connections and explicitly incorporate vocational training obligations within investment agreements. This study enriches the existing empirical literature by illustrating that the efficacy of FDI in fostering vocational skills is dependent on the state of institutional preparedness, thereby highlighting the necessity for focused policy coordination to harmonise foreign investment with national human development objectives.