Twenty-six states recorded zero foreign investment in the whole of 2020, figures released by National Bureau of Statistics show.

The report on capital importation into the country, compiled by Central Bank of Nigeria, was released on Friday by NBS.

It captures the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), portfolio investment and other types of investments into the country in a year the global economy suffered a terrible battering as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The total value of capital inflow for the year fell to $9.7 billion, from $24 billion in 2019, representing a decline of 59.7 per cent. It was the lowest in at least four years.

More foreign capital inflows came through “other investments”, followed by FDI, and Portfolio Investment, the report said.

Equities supplied the largest chunk of capital inflows, while the United Kingdom emerged as the top source of capital investment in Nigeria in the year.

Destination

By destination, Lagos emerged as the top destination of capital investment in Nigeria with $8.3 billion, followed by Abuja, which received $1.3 billion.

The others on the list are Abia State with relatively lower $56 million, Niger with $16.4 million, and Ogun with $13.4 million.

Anambra State recorded $10.2 million, Kaduna State recorded $4.03 million, Sokoto got $2.5 million and Kano got $2.4 million.

Akwa Ibom received $1.05 million ahead of Adamawa, which received just $20,000.

All the remaining 26 states received no foreign capital inflows the entire year, the report shows.

They are Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara States.

Covid-19 effect

Many Nigerian states are known to be characteristically non-competitive in attracting foreign investments, despite their huge populations. Amongst many factors responsible for this is insecurity. This was made worse last year by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since the pandemic broke out, public health measures have caused severe economic disruptions that impact foreign investment in countries of the world.

In June 2020, amid the crash in commodity prices occasioned by the pandemic, foreign direct investment flows to Africa was projected to decline between 25 percent and 40 percent, according to World Investment Report 2020.

FDI flows to the continent were forecast to contract based on gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections, as well as other investment factors.

The contraction was necessitated by the disruption in several services industries including aviation, hospitality, tourism and leisure, among others.

PT