During Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day speech on Tuesday, October 1, Bola Tinubu claimed that his administration’s economic reforms had attracted more than $30 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2023.
Tinubu stressed that these reforms were essential to correct the country’s economic challenges and ensure a stable and sustainable future.
“Thanks to the reforms, our country attracted foreign direct investments worth more than $30 billion in the last year,” he said.
The president’s claim may have been based on a statement made by Doris Uzoka-Anite, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, in February 2024.
She mentioned that the country had secured $30 billion in investment commitments from various investors and that these commitments are not immediate investments and are expected to be redeemed over a period of five to eight years.
However, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and other reports raise significant questions about the president’s claim.
From the second quarter of 2023, when Tinubu assumed office, to the first quarter of 2024, Nigeria attracted around $448.95 million in actual foreign direct investment.
This amount is significantly lower than the $30 billion figure presented by the president.
In addition to FDI, Nigeria also saw investments in foreign portfolio investments (FPI), which refers to financial assets like stocks and bonds.
During the same period, the country received approximately $2.58 billion in FPI. Other forms of investment, such as loans and trade credits, brought in $3.12 billion.
Altogether, Nigeria attracted a total of $6.14 billion in foreign inflows between the second quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. In the second quarter, the total inflows amounted to $1.03 billion but dropped to $654.65 million in the third quarter. By the fourth quarter of 2023, inflows rose slightly to $1.09 billion, and by the first quarter of 2024, they had surged to $3.38 billion.
While the president’s statement about attracting over $30 billion in foreign direct investment may refer to long-term investment commitments, the actual inflows of FDI in 2023 were far lower.
The total foreign investments during the period were significantly less than the figure claimed by Tinubu in his Independence Day address.
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