Nigeria economy attracts $43bn investments in four years —NBS

Document of the country’s investment inflows from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that between January 2015 and December 2018, the Nigerian economy attracted a total investment of $43.81billion.

The investment came from three main sources Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) made up of equity and other capital; Portfolio investment which comprised equity, bond and money market instruments; and other investments which were made up of trade credits, loans, currency deposit and other claims.

Further analysis of the report showed that Nigeria’s foreign exchange policy, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan and the economic recession witnessed in 2016 largely shaped capital importation over the period.

For instance, investigations showed that prior to the economic recession of 2015, the level of investment inflows was at an upward trajectory.

The economic was confronted with crisis few months after the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, during this period investment inflow recorded a sharp decline to almost half of the 2014 value of $20.76 billion dropping to $9.65 billion in 2015.

Further analysis of the report revealed that in 2016, the value of investment inflow remained depressed, decreasing by $4.55bn from $9.65bn in 2015 to $5.1bn.

It, however, noted that a recovery began in 2017, as investors raised their stake by $7.1bn to $12.2bn.

In the 2018 fiscal period, the country attracted about $16.81bn investment, the NBS data showed.

In 2018, the largest amount of investment inflow by type was received through portfolio investment, which accounted for $11.8bn or 70.20 per cent.

This was followed by other investment, which accounted for $3.81bn or 22.69 per cent of total capital, while Foreign Direct Investment had $1.19bn or 7.11 per cent of total capital imported in 2018.

In terms of destination, the report stated that the United Kingdom emerged as the top source of capital investment in Nigeria in 2018 with $6bn. This, it noted, accounted for 35.74 per cent of the total capital inflow in 2018.

This was followed by the United States with $3.57bn;  South Africa, $1.15bn; the United Arab Emirates, $937.19m;  Belgium, $886.08m; and Singapore, $780.87m.

Others were Ghana, $626.44m; Mauritius, $560.87m; The Netherlands, $373.08m; and Switzerland, $355.98m.