Nigeria’s H1 2019 Investments At USD 15.15 Bn – But The Country Has Done Better Before

Per a new report from the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigeria recorded foreign and local investment considerations worth USD 15.15 Bn between January and June 2019. The H1 2019 report says that investments were made for 43 projects in 12 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. 

Seeing these figures, it could be easy to say that the West African country did quite well for the beginning of the year. However, this figure is a poor performance compared to the volume of investments attracted in the same period of last year. In H1 2018, the commission reported that Nigeria roped in USD 45.74 Bn in foreign and local investments. 

NIPC notes that the announcements made in the first half of this year were 67 percent less in value than the considerations that were made about twelve months ago. The commission has blamed the decline in numbers to many investors awaiting the conclusion of the national elections and handover in the first half of this year. 

As presented by NIPC’s director of Strategic Communications, Emeka Offor on behalf of the commission’s executive secretary, Yewande Sadiku, the mining, and quarrying sector of Nigeria swallowed the more substantial part of the investments, receiving USD 12.3 Bn. This represents 81 percent of the total considerations the country was able to attract. 

Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector got USD 2.2 Bn, which is 14 percent of the total investment. Finance and insurance received USD 2 Mn, two percent of the total announced commitments. Two percent of the whole, the Information, and Communication sector collected USD 2 Mn within the six months. The extra USD 2 Mn was unevenly distributed among Nigeria’s other sectors. 

As for the destination of these sums of money, USD 11.6 Bn – 77 percent of the entire H1 package – were used to fund offshore projects. Initiatives being worked on in Lagos and Ondo States received USD 6 Mn and USD 1.1 Bn respectively. While Ogun State collected USD 2 Mn, the remaining USD 1.6 Bn went other Nigerian states. 

The report also revealed that USD 10 Bn, which is 66 percent of the grand total, was given to the country by the Netherlands, while USD 2.1 Bn – 14 percent, came from Morocco. Nigeria itself did its bit by contributing 9 percent of the money, which is USD 1.3 Bn, coming from local investors. Then, USD 3.5 Bn came from external sources. 

Feature Image: TripSavvy