Foreign Direct Investment has not dropped, says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country has not dropped.

The regulator said this in reaction to the news item on Reuters quoting World Investment Report, 2019, recently released by UNCTAD on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to African countries. The report alleges a decrease of over 40 percent in FDI inflows to Nigeria in 2018.

While the CBN was not privy to the methodology used in arriving at the figures, it stated that available records show a significant increase in FDI in Nigeria during the period 2018, contrary to the Reuters’ report.

For instance, in 2018, the total capital inflows to the country stood at $19.07 billion out of which FDI accounted for $7.78 billion.

Furthermore, total capital flows to Nigeria, from January to May 2019 stood at $14.2 billion of which FDI accounted for $2.87 billion, representing a 20.18 percent of the total amount.

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The country continues to enjoy steady capital flows due to the prevailing stable macroeconomic environment and sustained investors’ confidence in the economy.

“Against this background, we wish to urge the public to take advantage of several publications by the CBN and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which give adequate and accurate statistics on the subject matter”, Isaac Okorafor, director, corporate communications said in a statement.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.