EFFECT OF FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY AND INCLUSION ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

For the past ten years, there have been discussions on how to use technology and financial inclusion to boost growth in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, which has the continent's largest economy. With a GDP of about $450 billion, Nigeria's yearly growth rates have frequently trailed, averaging about 2.2% over the past 10 years (IMF, 2021). This slow growth rate is coupled with a rich gap rate, unthinkable unemployment rates, illiteracy rates, and financially excluded individuals. This made it necessary to investigate how technology and financial inclusion affect Nigeria's economic development. Specifically, the study examined the impact of financial availability (number of bank branches) on economic growth, the degree of financial penetration (bank depositors per 1,000 adults), the role of financial usage (credit to the private sector, as a percentage of GDP), the powerful influence of financial intermediation (money supply, as a percentage of GDP), and the impact of financial technology (retail digital platform) on economic growth in Nigeria. The study concentrated on the time frame from 2012:Q1 to 2023:Q4, aligning the particular goals with research ideas. based on the theoretical framework of finance-growth theory. To explore its goals, the study used an ex post facto research approach. The Okon et al. (2023) model specification was used. The study explicitly identified the relationship between retail digital payments, bank branches, private sector credit, money supply, and bank deposits and gross domestic product per capita. Descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, unit root test, lag structure analysis, ARDL bound test for cointegration, ARDL long run and short multiplier analysis, autocorrelation test, stability test using CUSUM and CUSUM square, heteroscedasticity test, and multicollinearity tests were among the estimations carried out in the study. The linkages and dynamics within the research framework were thoroughly examined using these methodological techniques.