Capital imported into the country recorded the fourth consecutive quarterly decline to $1.06 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022 from $1.15 billion recorded in the previous quarter.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, capital importation report for Q4 showed that Capital Importation fell quarter-on-quarter by 27% to $1.57 billion in Q1 of 2022 from $2.18 billion in Q4 of 2021.
Capital importation fell by 2.5% to $1.53 billion in the second quarter and down by 24% to $1.15 billion in the third quarter.
The downward trend continued in Q4 when capital importation fell 7.8% to $1.06 billion.
The NBS stated:” In Q4 of 2022, total capital importation into Nigeria stood at $1.06 billion, lower than $2.18 billion recorded in Q4 of 2021, indicating a decrease of 51%. “When compared to the preceding quarter, capital importation also fell by 8.5% from $1.15 billion in Q3 of 2022.
“The largest capital importation during the period was received from Other Investment, which accounted for 65.17% ($691.23 million) of total capital imported in Q4 of 2022.
“This was followed by Portfolio Investment with 26.8% ($285.26 million) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with 7.9% ($84.23 million). “Disaggregated by Sectors, capital importation into the production sector recorded the highest inflow of $392.54 million, representing 37% of total capital imported in Q4 2022. This was followed by capital imported into the banking sector, valued at $255.45 million (24%), and Telecoms with $168.27 million (15.86%).
“Capital Importation by Country of Origin reveals that capital from the United Kingdom ranked top in Q4 of 2022 with $455.24 million, accounting for 42.92%.
“This was followed by the Republic of South Africa and the United Arab Emirates valued at $119.31 million (11.25%) and $116.82 million (11.01%) respectively.
“By Destination of Investment, Lagos state remained the top destination in Q4 of 2022 with $600.54 million, accounting for 56.62% of total capital investment in Nigeria.
“This was followed by Abuja (FCT), valued at $424.50 million (40%). “Categorization of Capital Importation by Banks shows that Citibank Nigeria Limited ranked top in Q4 of 2022 with $308.72 million (29%).
“This was followed by Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited with $232.45 million (21.9%) and Rand Merchant Bank with $102.00 (9.62%).
“However, on an annual basis, capital importation was $5.3 billion in 2022, a decrease of 20.47% from $6.7 billion in 2021.”