Osun, 27 Others Attracted Zero Foreign Investments In 6 Months – NBS

Foreign investors have ignored 28 states including Osun as the value of capital importation into Nigeria fell by 30 percent to $2.16 billion in the first half of 2023, from $3.11 billion in the same period last year.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its latest capital importation report for the second quarter (Q2) of 2023.

Nigeria’s capital imports for the first half of 2023 totalled $2.16 billion, with $1.13 billion imported in Q1 and $1.03 billion in Q2.

According to the NBS report, the 28 states that failed to attract foreign investment in H1 2023 include: Abia, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross, River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara.

In the period under review, OSUN DEFENDER gathered that Lagos took the lead, outshining others — and the federal capital territory (FCT) — to top the list of states that attracted the most investments.

Analysis Index shows that the country’s major commercial city attracted $1.48 billion, representing 69 percent of the total capital inflow into Nigeria.

Recently, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, 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, the FCT emerged as the second top investment destination with $604.55 million — representing 28 percent of the total capital inflow in the country in the first six months of the year.

Other states that attracted foreign investments in the half-year period are Akwa Ibom ($39.1 million), Adamawa ($4.5 million), Anambra ($4 million), and Ogun ($26.1 million).

Niger made the list with $1.50 million, Ondo had $200,000, and Ekiti secured $25,500.

• Yusuf Oketola