Foreign investors largely ignored Nigeria’s 27 states, with only a handful of nine states, including the federal capital territory of Abuja, benefiting from foreign investment.
This was revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest Nigerian Capital Importation report for the first four quarters of 2022.
The report examines the value of new investments that entered the country’s economy during the fiscal year under review.
According to the NBS data, the 27 states ignored by investors include: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.
Ten territories attracted foreign investment in the country by 2022. According to the report, the country’s commercial capital, Lagos, attracted $3.61 billion in investment, accounting for 68 percent of total capital inflow into the country during the period under review. FCT ($1.63 billion), Akwa Ibom ($42.52 million), Anambra ($36.97 million), Oyo ($3.00 million), Kogi ($2.00 million), Katsina ($0.70 million), Ekiti ($0.51 million), Ondo ($0.20 million), and Plateau ($0.04 million) are the other states that have attracted foreign investment in 2022.
The report also added that the United Kingdom emerged as the top source of capital investment in Nigeria in 2022, with $2.76 billion, followed by South Africa ($428.73 million), Singapore ($420.97 million), and the United States ($286.92 million).