Omodele Adigun
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has put a lie to a report by UNCTAD that the country suffered a 40 pre cent drop in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in 2018, saying that contrary to the report, investment inflows actually spiked during the period.
According to the apex bank’s spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, Nigeria enjoys steady capital flows due to the prevailing stable macroeconomic environment and sustained investors’ confidence in the economy.
Okorafor explained in a statement that in 2018, the total capital inflows to the country stood at $19.07 billion out of which FDI accounted for $7.78 billion.
The statement read in part: “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the news item on Reuters quoting World Investment Report, 2019, recently released by UNCTAD on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to African countries. The report alleges a decrease of over 40 per cent in FDI inflows to Nigeria in 2018.
“While the CBN is not privy to the methodology used in arriving at the figures, we wish to state that available records show a significant increase in FDI in Nigeria during the period 2018, contrary to the Reuters’ report. For instance, in 2018, the total capital inflows to the country stood at $19.07 billion out of which FDI accounted for $7.78 billion.
Furthermore, total capital flows to Nigeria, from January to May 2019 stood at $14.2 billion of which FDI accounted for $2.87 billion, representing a 20.18 per cent of the total amount…”