Nigeria suffers a 67% fall in investment commitments during the first six months of this year

NIGERIA attracted a total of $15.5bn worth of domestic and foreign investment commitments during the first six months of 2019 according to a recent report by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) .

 

Apparently, between January and June this year, $15.15bn proposed investments were made for 43 projects in 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Comparatively, the proposed investments for the first half of this year showed a 67% decline when compared with the corresponding period of 2018.

 

Investments commitments are made by would-be investors in specific sectors of the economy, which the NIPC follows up to ensure its full maturity and benefits to the economy. According to NIPC records, mining and quarrying recorded investment announcements of $12.3bn, reflecting 81% of the total investment proposals made.

 

Manufacturing for its part,  recorded $2.2bn worth of investment proposals announced. Within the period under review, finance and insurance recorded $200m investment proposals, while information and communication recorded $200m.

 

An NIPC spokesman said: “In the period,  $15.15bn of announcements were tracked through the NIPC. The report showed that a total of 43 projects across 12 states and Federal  Capital Territory were announced from investors in  20  countries.

 

“Comparatively,  the announcements made in the first half of 2019  were  67% less in value than the announcements in the same period of 2018. This was probably due to many investors waiting for the conclusion of national elections and handover in the first half of 2019. The  major  destination  was  the Niger Delta  region  with  77%,  followed  by Ondo State at  7%, and Lagos State at 4% of the value announced.”

 

Records showed that Moroccan investors made commitments of $2.1bn while Nigerian local investors made investment commitments of $1.3bn. Investors from Malaysia made investment commitments of $0.9bn, while other unnamed nations cumulatively made investment commitments of $3.5bn.

 

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