Given the role that innovation plays as an engine for economic development, we examined the enabling factor of institutions in Africa. Particularly, attention was given to determining the equivalent effects of institutional development on innovation. A sample of 40 African countries over the period 1996‐2012 was employed, and our baseline equation was estimated using the system generalised method of moments (SGMM) estimation technique. The empirical result reveals that government effectiveness and regulatory quality are two institutional measures that have the most equivalent impact on innovation. The extent of impact is an indication that institutions matter, especially when considering innovation in Africa. Therefore, to advance the rate of innovation in Africa, improving frameworks to drive regulations and enhance government effectiveness is a necessary instrument. Having these in place, Africa will be able to catch up with advanced economies.

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PurposeOne of the challenging factors in achieving sustainable growth is the inability of the Nigerian government to diversify the country's revenue base. This study aims to investigate the relationship between cash crop financing and agricultural performance in Nigeria.Design/methodologyFour crops were considered, namely, cotton, cocoa, groundnut and palm oil. The impact of cash crop finance shock on agricultural performance was investigated using the vector error correction model (VECM), while the long-run relationship was examined through the identification of long-run restrictions on the VECM.FindingsThe variance decomposition showed that financing shock is more sensitive to cause variation in aggregate employment than aggregate agricultural output in palm oil, while for cocoa, cotton and groundnut showed otherwise. The long-run structural equations exert a positive relationship between cash crop financing and agricultural performance, except for oil palm and cocoa financing that has a negative connection with agrarian employment.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to the unavailability of data for agriculture sector capital utilisation, which was not used.Practical implicationsThese results show that long-run benefit can be maximised by appropriate funding in cotton and groundnut production to promote sustainable growth.Originality/valueThe study examines the impact of cash crop financing on agricultural performance with the aim to promote sustainable growth in Nigeria using identified VECM.

Numerous studies have examined the relationship between human capital and productivity. However, the implications of human capital channels-the 'basic channel' and 'advanced channel'-were discounted from most of the empirical studies in Africa. This study, therefore, uses Vector Error Correction Model to examine the joint short-and long-run causality, as well as long-run behaviour of human capital channels on productivity within the period from 1980 to 2017. Evidence from the joint short-and long-run causality shows that there is no long-run one while joint short-run causality was observed in the basic channel, in the advanced channel there is both joint short-and long-run causality. For the long-run equation, primary school enrollment/secondary school enrollments have insignificant effect on productivity growth while tertiary institution enrollment and government expenditure on education have a positive effect on productivity growth. However, contribution of both effects is less than one per cent, thus showing low responsiveness of the inputs on productivity. The implications from this result are that human capital formation through education and investment in research and development have not promoted productivity in Nigeria. Investment in research and development is imperative to promote productivity and enhance the skills needed to adapt and diffuse new technologies.

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