By Melvin Onwubuke
The number of Nigerian states that allured foreign investors, in the fourth quarter of 2023 dropped to lowest in about 3 years.
According to findings by BusinessDay, the latest capital importation published by the National Bureau of Statistics, revealed that only 4 States in Nigeria got foreign capital in fourth quarter when compared to 6 in the previous quarter.
Lagos, Abuja, Ekiti and Rivers attracted a total of $1.09 billion.
Damilare Asimiyu, Macroeconomic Strategist & Lead of Investment Research at Afrinvest West Africa Limited, said “The trend in the number of states getting investment has become very abysmal. It is just showing the perceived risks level of the market.”
He added “Foreign investors are going for states, that are economically viable, where insecurity is less and the average citizen per capita income is still high.”
Meanwhile, Okafor Tochukwu, a lecturer at Global Banking School, Stratford, London, noted “The rising inflation, foreign exchange crises and insecurity has reduced foreign exchange in states, even in Abuja, some investments have been reducing because of insecurity.”
The report showed that the total foreign investment in States in fourth quarter stood at $1.08 billion, 67.7% higher than $654.6 million in the previous year.
It is a cause for concern that, the numbers of foreign investment is shrinking.
