LATEST data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), showed that only Lagos, Ekiti and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) generated $3.38 billion as capital importation for Nigeria in the first quarter(Q1) of 2024.
Capital importation is the influx of external resources into the local capital resources for investment, trade, and business production.
Compared with the first quarter of 2023 which was $1.13 billion, the latest figure increased by 198.06 per cent in one year.
This means that 34 states in Nigeria did not generate any capital importation between January and March 2024.
Lagos state pulled a total of $2.78 billion, FCT pulled $593.58 million and Ekiti state generated $12,750.
The NBS divides capital importation into three main investment types: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Portfolio Investment, and Other Investments, each comprising various sub-categories.
The NBS report showed that Portfolio Investment ranked top with $2,075.59 million, accounting for 61.48 per cent, followed by Other Investment with $1,181.25 million, accounting for 34.99 per cent.
The FDI recorded the least with $119.18 million (3.53 per cent) of total capital importation in Q1 2024.
Meanwhile, the Banking sector recorded the highest inflow with $2,067.44 million, followed by the Trading sector, valued at $494.93 million, and the Production/Manufacturing sector with $191.92 million.
By country, the United Kingdom had the largest import. The Republic of South Africa followed this with $582.34 million and the Cayman Islands with $186.21 million.
The ICIR reported how Lagos, FCT generated 94 per cent of Nigeria’s capital importation in 2023. However, in a separate analysis, the surge of the foreign trade volume value of N85.69 trillion failed to impact Nigeria’s currency market as Nigeria’s foreign exchange reveals scarcity of supply and periodic interventions by the apex bank.
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at [email protected] (jameskennyogunyale@gmail) or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames