Foreign Investments Rose by 45% in 2016 — UNCTAD

Foreign Direct Investment to Nigeria rose to N4.4bn in 2016 despite the contraction of the economy and general decline in investment in Africa.

This amounted to an increase by 45 per cent from N3.1bn total foreign investment recorded in 2015, findings by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development revealed.

The UNCTAD, in its recent report, said this improved investment in Nigeria boosted the performance of West Africa by 12 per cent to $11.4bn in 2016.

Despite the improved investor interest in the economy in the year under review, analysts at the UNCTAD posited that the FDI to Nigeria performed below average compared to previous years.

In terms of investment outflows, the World Investment Report 2017 of the UNCTAD indicated that  Angola had the highest; followed by relatively low outflows in South Africa and Nigeria.

A total of $18bn was recorded as outward investment from Africa, with Angola accounting for $10.7bn, South Africa, $3.4bn; and Nigeria $1.3bn.

“The reduced investments from South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Nigeria, in that order, were offset by the rise of outflows from Angola, the region’s largest investor,” the organisation said.

It noted that low commodity prices, especially crude oil prices, had diminished economic prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa and investor interest in the sub-region.

However, the report said there were expectations that the FDI flows to Africa would increase moderately in 2017 on the back of modest oil price rises and a potential increase in non-oil FDI.

Basically, the report said, “Nigeria’s FDI remained relatively depressed, as its oil output declined to historic lows in 2016, and the country fell into recession for the first time since 1991.

“The FDI to Angola, the largest FDI recipient on the continent, was subdued. Despite some recovery from its 2015 lows, the FDI to Nigeria and South Africa remained well below past average.”

“Multinational enterprises from developing economies are increasingly active on the continent, but those from developed countries still hold most of the foreign investment stock, “it added.