BY VICTORIA ONU, ABUJA
THE negative impact of the Coronavirus pandemic has led to one of the worst declines in the history of Nigeria’s investment inflows, as capital importation dropped by $14.29bn to $9.7bn in 2020.
This is against the $23.99bn recorded at the end of 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
“The total value of capital importation in 2020 stood at $9.68bn, compared to $23.99bn in 2019, representing a decline of -59.65 per cent between the two periods,” the NBS said in its Capital Importation report on Friday.
During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Bureau disclosed that capital importation into Nigeria stood at $1.06bn.
It said the largest amount of capital importation came in through Other Investment with the sum of $783.26m. This is about 73.22 per cent of the total capital importation during the fourth quarter of 2020.
Foreign Direct Investment recorded $251.27m, which is about 23.49 per cent of investment inflows, while Portfolio Investment accounted for $35.15m, representing 3.29 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Also, during the period, the United Kingdom was Nigeria’s top source of capital investment, with $236.88m, which is about 22.14 per cent of total capital inflow.
According to the Bureau, Lagos State emerged as the top destination of capital investment in Nigeria in the fourth quarter of 2020 with $829.64bn, representing 77.56 per cent of the total capital inflow.
The Bureau also noted that Citibank Nigeria Limited emerged at the top of capital investment in Nigeria in the fourth quarter, with $216.17m, accounting for 20.21 per cent of total capital inflow.
