Nigeria recorded its lowest-ever quarterly Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) figures, according to the Q2 Capital Importation Report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), FIJ has learnt.
This comes a few days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s October 1 speech which generated controversy over FDI inflows. In the second quarter of 2024, FDI into Nigeria dropped to $29.83 million — the lowest since NBS began publishing capital import reports.
This is a sharp drop from the $118.9 million recorded in the first quarter of 2024 and a 65.3% decline compared to the second quarter of 2023.
An FIJ review of NBS data dating back to 2012 shows that this is Nigeria’s worst quarterly FDI performance on record. Before 2024, the lowest figure was in the first quarter of 2023 when the country managed to attract $47.6 million in FDI.
FDI, which involves foreign individuals or companies investing in Nigerian businesses, is crucial for economic growth. It creates jobs, boosts infrastructure and introduces new technology to Nigeria.
However, Nigeria has been on a downward FDI trend since the third quarter of 2023. After a slight recovery in Q4 2023, when FDI hit $187 million, it dropped again in early 2024 and has plunged even further in Q2.
At the same time, multinational companies have been leaving Nigeria. By July 2024, 16 multinationals had exited in the past three years, according to Vanguard.
The Punch reported in June that the exit of multinational had cost Nigeria roughly N94 trillion, based on estimates by Vincent Nwani, former Director of Research and Advocacy at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce.
Despite this troubling trend, President Tinubu claimed in his Independence Day speech that his administration had attracted $30 billion in FDI in the past year.
The economy is undergoing the necessary reforms and retooling to serve us better and more sustainably,” Tinubu said.
“If we do not correct the fiscal misalignments that led to the current economic downturn, our country will face an uncertain future and the peril of unimaginable consequences. Thanks to the reforms, our country attracted foreign direct investments worth more than $30 billion in the last year.”
However, FIJ’s analysis of NBS reports tells a different story. The total FDI from 2023 to the second quarter of 2024 amounts to just $994.41 million, far from Tinubu’s $30 billion figure.
Additionally, Tinubu only took office in mid-2023, meaning his administration can’t be credited with the entire FDI inflows in 2023.
