Economic Impact Assessment of African Timber And Plywood Company in Sapele, Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

The Impact of African Timber and Plywood (AT & P) industry on Sapele community is an important issue that warrants empirical investigation.  Specifically, the study was designed to assess the positive and negative impact of AT & P on Sapele community.  A sample of 90 respondents comprising of 30 AT & P company staff and 60 numbers of Sapele community, was composed using simple random sampling techniques.  Primary data were collected from the respondents with the aid of structured questionnaire and interview schedule in May 2009. A combination of descriptive statistics (such as means, standard deviation, percentage, table, graph); and inferential statistics (probit regression model) were used to analyse the collected data. The result of the study showed that AT & P industry made positive impact on Sapele community through creation of job opportunities (77.78%) and award of scholarship to indigenes (55.56%), the study revealed that the negative impact created by AT & P industry included deforestation (66.67%) and generation of wastes (61.11%).  The result of the probit model showed that AT & P industry created significant impact on Sapele community through the provision of social amenities and wood supply.  The average log likelihood value of 0.48 indicated that the mean degree of impact created by AT & P was 48%. It was therefore recommended among others that more forest related industries should be sited in other parts of Delta State Nigeria for the purpose of development.