Nigeria’s economy faces fresh concerns as data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed a significant decline in the country’s capital importation in 2023.

Amid gruelling foreign exchange woes, the NBS said Nigeria only attracted a meagre $3.91 billion in foreign capital inflow last year — the lowest since 2007.

According to TheCable Index analysis, in the five years between 2007 and 2011, inflow ranged from $5.7 billion to $9.57 billion.

A significant jump occurred in 2012, with inflows reaching $16.62 billion. This was followed by two consecutive increases exceeding $20 billion between 2013 and 2014.

Inflows dipped again from 2015 onwards, with a brief recovery in 2017. This culminated in a decline of $3.91 billion in 2023 — marking a 17-year low.

Notably, at $24 billion, 2019 saw the highest foreign investment in the past 17 years. However, this peak was not sustained, hinting at the uncertain nature of foreign investors.

The NBS said portfolio investment (FPI) in 023 was 29.5 percent ($1.15 billion) of the $3.91 billion total capital importation. The highest FPI in the last 17 years was in 2019 at $16.4 billion, followed by $14.9 billion in 2014, and $11.8 billion in 2018.

On the other hand, foreign direct investment (FDI) stood at $377.4 million, and other investment was $2.38 billion last year.

According to the NBS report, 18 states that failed to attract foreign investment in three years (2021 – 2023) include:

• Bauchi
• Bayelsa
• Benue
• Borno
• Cross River
• Ebonyi
• Edo
• Enugu
• Gombe
• Imo
• Jigawa
• Kaduna
• Kebbi
• Nasarawa
• Sokoto
• Taraba
• Yobe
• Zamfara

Eight out of the 18 states, recorded zero foreign investment in five years (2019-2023). They are:

• Bayelsa
• Ebonyi
• Gombe
• Jigawa
• Kebbi
• Taraba
• Yobe
• Zamfara

LAGOS CONTINUES TO ATTRACT CAPITAL AS OTHERS LAG

In 2023, Lagos took the lead, outshining others — including the federal capital territory (FCT) — to top the list of states that attracted the most foreign investments.

Further analysis of the data shows that the country’s major commercial city raked in $2.50 billion, representing 64 percent of the total capital inflow into Nigeria.

The NBS report said the FCT emerged as the second top investment destination with $1.17 billion — 30 percent of the country’s total capital inflow.

Other states that attracted foreign investments in 2023 are Abia ($150.09 million), Akwa Ibom ($39.13 million), Ogun ($27.09 million), and Rivers ($6 million).

Adamawa attracted $4.5 million, Anambra ($4 million), Niger ($1.50 million), Ondo ($200,000) and Ekiti $51,000.

The Cable