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Nigeria gets N9.4tn investments in 30 months

By BusinessNews Staff on August 24, 2015

A total sum of $47.4bn (about N9.4tn) was invested in the Nigerian economy by local and foreign investors between January 2013 and June this year, figures obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics indicated.

The bureau in the capital importation report, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent on Friday, said the amount was invested under nine various categories of investments.

They are foreign direct investment (equity); foreign direct investment (other capital); portfolio investment (equity); portfolio investment (bonds); and portfolio investment (money market instruments).

The rest are investment made through trade credits; investments made in the form of loans; and investment done in the form of currency deposits and other claims.

A breakdown of the $47.4bn investments showed that the economy attracted the sum of $21.31bn in 2013; $20.75bn in 2014; while the balance of $5.35bn was invested within the first six months of this year.

A further analysis of the report revealed that portfolio investment in equity, bonds and money market instruments accounted for the highest amount of investment made during the period under review.

For instance, the report stated that out of a total of $21.31bn invested in 2013, the portfolio investments in equity, bonds and money market instruments accounted for $17.368bn or 81.47 per cent.

Similarly, the FDI in equity and other capital accounted for $2.7bn while other investments such as trade credits, currency deposits, loans as well as other claims made up the balance of $1.243bn.

For 2014, the report indicated that the sum of $2.26bn was invested in equity through the FDI while portfolio investors in equity, bonds and money market instruments staked a total sum of $14.91bn.

The report said portfolio investment had remained the largest of all investment types in 2015.

For instance, it said portfolio investment totalled $2.183bn in the second quarter of 2015, representing 81.88 per cent of all capital imported.

This was $322.50m or 17.33 per cent greater than the $1,860.65 million portfolio investment recorded in the opening quarter of 2015.

It said, “Within portfolio investment, the key driver of the quarterly growth observed was equity, which at 84.56 per cent of portfolio investment, increased by $706.70m or 62.02 per cent from the preceding quarter.

“Growth in money market instruments further contributed, increasing by $270.39m or 1,674.78 per cent from $16.14m in the first quarter to $286.53m in the second quarter of 2015.

“The remaining component, bonds, declined on a quarterly basis, $654.58m or 92.83 per cent, so that its share of total portfolio investment declined from 26.39 per cent to just 2.31 per cent year-on-year.

Commenting on the country’s investment climate, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Mrs. Uju Baba, said that the agency had put in place fresh strategies for monitoring and attracting new investments from all regions of the world.

She said already, a committee, chaired by the Legal Adviser of the commission, Mrs. Patience Okala, had been constituted to process the needs of investors at the pre-investment stage.

The move, according to her, is part of measures aimed at ensuring that prospective investors are given the requisite information and support to invest in key sectors of the economy with potential for creating jobs.

She said, “The objective is to ensure that investors who have shown interest to invest in Nigeria are provided with adequate information and given support to actualise their investment in the country.

“There is the need to provide constant communication and quality information to enable prospective investors to make informed decisions.”

She also said the NIPC Act would be strengthened to enable the commission to effectively facilitate entrance of new investments and expansion of existing ones in various sectors of the economy.

This, she said, would be in tandem with international best practices in investment promotion.

“It is expected that the impact of all the strategies will reflect on the ratings of the economy within a reasonable period and improve investors’ confidence on the economy,” she stated.

[Punch]

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