Henry Uche

The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has recorded a total of $9.29 billion worth of investment across the country in the third quarter of the  year. 

According to the NIPC Intelligence Newsletters, a total of 13 projects spanning four states and offshore were announced by investors from four countries.

The publication said major investment announcements were made by Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company which plans to invest $5 billion in crude exploration; Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) in a joint venture project of $3.15 billion with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the development of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13; CMES-OMS Petroleum Development Company (CPDC) also in a joint venture project with NNPC to the tune of $875.75 million for the funding, provision of technical services and alternative financing for the development of OML 65; and Datasonic Group Berhard, a Malaysian Group investing in the information and communication infrastructure to the tune of $100 million.

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It says that announcements from Nigerian companies accounted for 98 per cent by value, and these investments were mainly in the development of oil fields which shows the growing capacity of Nigerian companies in the oil and gas sector of the economy.

Similarly, mining and quarrying sector accounted for 98 per cent, while information and communications, finance and  insurance, transportation and storage, real estate, human health and social services, manufacturing and agriculture collectively accounted for the balance of 2 per cent. The major destination was the Niger-Delta region with 87 per cent, while Lagos, Kaduna, Anambra and Ogun States accounted for less than 1 per cent. The other destinations were not made public by the investors.

Howbeit, NIPC said that the report is based only on investment announcements cited in NIPC’s Newsletters from July to September 2019 and may not contain exhaustive information on all investment announcements in Nigeria during the period. Nevertheless, the report gives a sense of investors’ interest in the Nigerian economy.

NIPC did not independently verify the authenticity of the investment announcements but is working on tracking the announcements as they progress to actual investments.