Capital importation into Nigeria dropped on a quarter-on-quarter basis by 28.1% to $1.6 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its capital importation report.
This is 28.1% lower than the $2.19 billion recorded in Q4 2021, while year-on-year (y/y), the capital importation fell 17.5% from $1.9 billion recorded in Q1 2021
“The largest amount of capital importation by type was received through Portfolio Investment, which accounted for 60.9 ($957.6 million).
“This was followed by Other Investment with 29. 3% ($460.6 million) and Foreign Direct Investment accounted for 9.9% ($154.9 million) of total capital imported in Q1 2022,” the report stated.
Released on Thursday, the report showed that across sectors, the banking attracted the highest investment inflow of $818.8 million or 52.1% of the total capital imported during the period in review.
This was followed by capital imported into the production sector, valued at $223.7 million (14.2%), and the financing sector with $199.37 million (12.7%).
The largest amount of capital importation by type was received through Portfolio Investment, which accounted for 60.9 ($957.6 million).
By country of origin, the United Kingdom ranked top with a value of $1.021.2 million or 64.9% of the total capital imported in Q1 2022, followed by South Africa at $117.5 million (7.5%), and the United States of America $82.1 million (5.2%) respectively.
In terms of investment destinations only Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Katsina Lagos, Oyo, and Plateau out of the 36 states attracted inflows.
Foreign trade
In a related development, Nigeria’s foreign trade rose to N13 trillion in Q1 2022, increasing by 11.1% from N11.7 trillion quarter-on-quarter, and 65.4% higher y/y than the N7.86 trillion recorded in Q1 2021.
The NBS attributed the improvement to increases in crude oil export receipts in the quarter under review. Specifically, Nigeria’s crude oil earnings rose by 31.66% q/q to N5.62 trillion in Q1 2022.
Consequently, total export earnings rose by 23.13% from N5.77 trillion recorded in Q4 2021 to N7.1 trillion in Q1 2022, against a 0.67% decline in import bill to N5.9 trillion in the same quarter. This resulted in a N1.19 trillion positive trade balance, the first since Q2 2021.
