According to the latest capital importation report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria received a sum of $1.46 billion from capital inflows in the third quarter of 2020, as against $1.29 billion received in the previous quarter (Q2 2020). This indicates a 12.86% increase. It however dipped by 74.03% as against $5.63 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019. The report also reveals that Nigeria received a total of $8.61 billion in capital inflows between January and September 2020.
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Lagos State was the leading destination of capital investment in Nigeria in the third quarter with $1.21 billion.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was $414.79 million. It revealed a 179.2% in Q3 2020, compared to $148.59 million recorded in the previous quarter.
Total Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) received within the quarter was $407.25 million, accounting for 27.87% of the total inflows.
Investment in money market instruments was the largest in this segment with a total of $363.15 million, followed by $44.1 million in equity, while none was recorded from bond investments.
Further analysis of capital importation by NBS shows that eight sectors recorded a decline in capital importation, nine sectors recorded positive growth while four sectors received no investment in the period under review.
Meanwhile, the production sector received the largest share of investments with $400.1 million inflows, representing 27.38% of the total inflows in the quarter. The Banking sector followed closely with $384.4 million inflows, accounting for 26.3% of the total inflows.
Others on the list of top five sectors include Shares ($283.2 million), Financing ($134.27 million), and Telecomms with $101.18 million inflows.
The United Kingdom was the biggest source of capital inflows for Nigeria, with a total investment of $594.65 million which is about 40.69% of the total inflows. This is followed by the Netherlands with $176.28 million.
Others include Ireland ($130 million), Singapore ($113.74 million), and the United States ($112.66 million).
Despite the growth recorded in the third quarter, it is obvious that capital inflow is still below expectation due to severe downturn caused by the ravaging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.