14 of Nigeria's 36 states have not attracted one penny in FDI over the last three years

FOURTEEN of Nigeria's 36 state governors have not raised one kobo in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last three years despite spending a whopping sum of N21.04bn ($22m) on foreign trips according to recent data from the World Bank.

In a document just published, the World Bank reveals that between 2021 and the third quarter of 2023, these 14 states failed to attract any of the $14.85bn that foreign investors channelled into Nigeria. These states in question include Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

Between 2021 and 2023, Bauchi spent N3.81bn on foreign trips without having anything to show for it, while Bayelsa spent N1.99bn, Benue spent N1.33bn, Borno spent N1.73bn and Cross River spent N663.16m. Ebonyi spent N1.01bn, Edo spent N1.77bn, Gombe spent N32.09m, Imo spent N541.23m, Jigawa spent N1.10bn, Nasarawa spent N541.26m, Taraba spent N2.52bn, Yobe spent N1.24bn and Zamfara spent N2.77bn.

These figures for foreign trips were extracted from state budget performance reports sourced from Open Nigerian States. Many of the states did not have their full budget performance reports with some only having for two quarters in some instances.

Kebbi State did not also receive any foreign direct investment during the period under review but there was no data on the amount spent on foreign trips, hence its exclusion from this report. Overall, the lack of foreign investments in these states coincides with a general fall in investments into the country due to insecurity and other issues.

A World Bank spokesman said: “Net FDI inflows are negative, reflecting net withdrawals of equity by foreign investors. FDI and foreign portfolio investments flows into Nigeria do not compare favourably with similar economies of the world, reflecting difficulties with foreign exchange availability, security concerns and other structural challenges in recent years.”

According to the report, several states, including Zamfara, Jigawa, Benue and Nasarawa, have been plagued by banditry in recent years, which has scared away investors. In Zamfara for instance, banditry has become the order of the day with almost all of its 14 local government areas being occupied by bandits.