Public data agency, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported Monday that capital importation through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Nigeria declined 62.29 percent to $200.8 million (N61.4 billion) in the third quarter of 2019, the lowest in four quarters stretching back to 2018.
On average, Africa’s most populous nation has attracted $222 million in FDI each quarter in 2019, an alarmingly low amount for a country estimated by global consulting firm, Mckinsey to need $31 billion in investment each year for ten years to bridge vast gaps in infrastructure.
What this means is that despite obvious opportunities, foreign capital is not rushing into Nigeria, as the government continues to maintain a stranglehold on sectors that can attract foreign investment at the detriment of the economy and the people.
The $222 million average FDI, which is less than 1 percent of GDP, is so small that if shared equally among Nigerians, 190 million of them, each person will get only $1.2 per quarter.
That’s like making do with $1.2 for a period of 90 days, which is far worse than the World Bank’s international poverty line of $1.90 per day.
For a frontier market with the population of Nigeria, attracting such low investment should be a big worry for government as it has dire implications for social welfare and economic growth.
In comparison, South Africa has averaged $1.3 billion in FDI every quarter this year, according to World Bank data. That translates to $23.6 per South African while Egypt has averaged $3.5 billion, leaving $36 per Egyptian.
LOLADE AKINMURELE
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