Nigeria Recorded $14.29bn Decline In Investment Inflows In 2020- NBS

Nigeria recorded one of its worst decline in investment inflows in recent times as the capital importation dropped by 59.65 per cent in 2020 to $9.7bn due to the impact of the Covid- 19 pandemic.

This is against the $23.99bn recorded by the end of 2019,the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday in its Capital Importation report.

The NBS said, “The total value of capital importation in 2020 stood at $9.68bn, compared to $23.99bn in 2019, representing a decline of -59.65 per cent between the two periods.”

During the fourth quarter of 2020, NBS disclosed that capital importation into Nigeria stood at $1.06bn.

The NBS said the largest amount of capital importation came in through Other investment with the sum of $783.26m. This is about 73.22 per cent of the total capital importation during the fourth quarter of 2020.

Foreign Direct Investment recorded $251.27m which is about 23.49 per cent of investment inflows, while Portfolio Investment accounted for $35.15m representing 3.29 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Also, during the period, the United Kingdom was Nigeria’s top source of capital investment with $236.88m, which is about 22.14 per cent of the total capital inflow.

According to the Bureau, Lagos State emerged as the top destination of capital investment in Nigeria in the fourth quarter of 2020 with $829.64bn, representing 77.56 per cent of the total capital inflow.

The Bureau also noted that Citibank Nigeria Limited emerged at the top of capital investment in Nigeria in the fourth quarter with $216.17m, accounting for 20.21 per cent of the total capital inflow.