Nigerian sectors with the largest foreign investments

Compared to the numbers for the fourth quarter of 2023 ($1,088.48 million), the numbers for the first quarter of 2024 showed an increase of 210.16%.

Capital import is the inflow of currency into a country for investment, trade or business operations, and its increase in the period under review indicates a rebuilding of investor confidence in the face of the current economic turmoil.

However, some sectors have proven to be more robust in attracting more foreign investment than others, with the top ten sectors attracting the most capital including:

The banking sector recorded the highest inflow of USD 2,067.44 million. Compared to Q4 2023 figures (USD 283.3 million), this was a massive increase of 630% and accounted for 61.24% of the total capital import in Q1 2024.

The trade sector followed closely with an inflow of $494.93 million. This was a 646% increase from the $66.34 million recorded in Q4 2023 and accounted for 14.66% of the total capital imports.

The sector came in third with an inflow of USD 191.92 million, which was 5.68% of total capital imports. However, the sector recorded a decline of 57.4% from USD 450.11 million recorded in Q4 2023.

The telecom sector received $191.57 million in Q1 2024, an increase of 738.7% compared to the amount of $22.84 million recorded in Q4 2023. This was 5.67% of the total capital imports.

Investment in IT services recorded an inflow of $171.7 million in Q1 2024, a whopping 1790% increase compared to $9.08 million recorded in Q4 2023. This accounted for 5.09% of the total capital imports during the period.

It was closely followed by the equity sector, which attracted USD 98.71 million in Q1 2024. This represents a 91.86% increase from USD 51.45 million recorded in Q4 2023 and accounts for 2.92% of the total capital imports in Q1 2024.

The financial sector saw a decline in investment from USD 135.59 million in Q4 2023 to USD 75.55 million in Q1 2024. This represented 2.24% of total imports in Q1 2024.

The electricity sector attracted USD 58.93 million in capital inflows in Q1 2024. This is an increase of 15.71% compared to USD 50.94 million recorded in Q4 2023 and constitutes 1.75% of the total capital imports.

The agricultural sector attracted increased investments of $15.8 million in Q1 2024, an increase of 3666.67% compared to $0.42 million invested in Q4 2023, accounting for 0.47% of total capital imports.

Investment in the transport sector recorded a moderate increase from USD 0.14 million recorded in Q4 2023 to USD 5.05 million in Q1 2024. This represented 0.15% of total capital imports.