Posted Thu, Sep 3, 2020 3:37 AM

Overall investment inflows into Nigeria plunged by 78.6% year-on-year in Q2’2020

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), foreign investment inflows fell sharply by 78.6% (year-on-year) to $1.3 billion in the second quarter of 2020 from $6.1 billion in the same period of 2019. This represents the highest year-on-year decline in the recent history of Nigeria’s foreign investment inflows. In the first half of 2020, the overall investment inflows dipped by 50.9% to $7.1 billion from $14.6 billion in 2019. This drastic decline in foreign capital inflows could be attributed to Nigeria’s poor economic performance accentuated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic within the period. In Q2’2020, the Nigerian economy contracted sharply by -6.1% while return on investments slid into negative due to high inflation rate and single-digit T/bill yield. These events, coupled with the huge uncertainty, primarily served as a disincentive to foreign investors.