Lagos State accounts for 81% of all Nigerian investments during the third quarter of 2021

AS much as 81% of all the investment that went into Nigeria during the third quarter of this year was invested in Lagos State according to statistics just released by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

Like most other nations worldwide, Nigeria has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and is only just becoming to return to some form of normality. Data just published by the NIPC shows that Nigerian investment announcements in the third quarter of 2021 totalled $8.99bn, of which Lagos State accounted for $7.29bn.

According to the NIPC, the investment announcements were 130% higher than the value of $3.95bn recorded in the corresponding period in 2020. It added that for the first nine months of the year, total investment announcements so far tracked between January and September stands at $19.10bn.

An NIPC spokesman said: “The month of August was the most active during the quarter, accounting for 64% of the total announcements. The top 10 announcements accounted for 96% of the volume tracked and compared to the third quarter of 2020, there is a marked improvement in the level of confidence in the investing community post-Covid-19.

“In the period covered by the report, Lagos State received the largest share of the announcements with 20 projects accounting for 81% ($7.29bn) of the total in manufacturing, information and communications, finance and insurance, human health and social services, and electricity. Rivers State recorded $300m worth of announcements in manufacturing and transportation, and Oyo State had $231m announced in electricity and trade (e-commerce), with the four states accounting for 87% of the total investments.”

On a sectoral basis, the NIPC reported that the sectors with the most investment announcements tracked were manufacturing (42%), electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (25%), information and communications (23%) and transportation (7%). In addition, the NIPC added that domestic investors were the most active during the period accounting for 47% of the announcements, followed by announcements from South Korea (22%), South Africa (16%) and the Kingdom of Spain (6%).

Although the NIPC noted that its report may not contain exhaustive information on all investment announcements in Nigeria during the period, it noted that it gives a sense of investors’ interest in the Nigerian economy. In addition, the NIPC further stated that it did not independently verify the authenticity of the investment announcements but is working on tracking the announcements as they progress to actual investments.