By Fatai Ahmed
Kwara state has been listed among states snubbed by foreign investors as value of capital importation fell by 34 percent to $2.82billion in the first nine months of 2023, from $4.27billion in the same period last year.
Altogether, 27 states in the federation are listed in the zero foreign investment attraction.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its latest capital importation report for the third quarter (Q3) of 2023 released on Friday.
Capital importation can be explained as bringing in capital from abroad to fuel investment, trade, and manufacturing within a country.
Nigeria’s capital imports for the first nine months of 2023, comprising Q1 – Q3 totalled $2.82 billion, with $1.13 billion imported in Q1, $1.03 billion in Q2 and $654.65m in Q3 2023.
The number of states that did not record investments dropped from 28 states in the first half of 2023 to 27 in the first nine months after Abia attracted a remarkable $150.09 million in Q3 – the only state to witness such a dramatic turnaround within three months.
According to the NBS report, the 27 states that failed to attract foreign investment in the first nine months of 2023 include:
Kwara
Bauchi
Bayelsa
Benue
Borno
Cross River
Delta
Ebonyi
Edo
Enugu
Gombe
Imo
Jigawa
Kaduna
Kano
Katsina
Kebbi
Kogi
Nasarawa
Osun
Oyo
Plateau
Rivers
Sokoto
Taraba
Yobe
Zamfara
In the review period, Lagos took the lead, outshining others — including the federal capital territory (FCT) — to top the list of states that attracted the most investments.
Analysis by TheCable Index shows that the country’s major commercial city attracted $1.79 billion, representing 64 percent of the total capital inflow into Nigeria.
In April, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, assured investors that the state is the right place for investments and “the crown subnational jewel of the African economy”.
He said Lagos was ripe for investments in financial technology, education technology, health technology, business process outsourcing (BPO), talent training and placement, or physical infrastructure like data centres, among others
According to the NBS report, FCT emerged as the second top investment destination with $799.21 million — representing 28 percent of the total capital inflow in the country in the first nine months of the year.
Other states that attracted foreign investments in the nine months are Abia ($150.09 million), Akwa Ibom ($39.13 million), Ogun (27.09), and Adamawa ($4.5 million).
Anambra attracted $4 million, Niger $1.50 million, $200,000 and Ekiti $38,250.
