The Federal Government’s revenue from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Nigeria took a significant hit in the second quarter of 2024, dropping to $29.83 million, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 

This marks a 65.33% decline compared to the $86.03 million recorded in the same period last year, and a 74.97% drop from $119.18 million in the preceding quarter.

The steep drop in FDI is the lowest level recorded since 2013, and most of the investment in Q2 2024 came from equity, which contributed $29.82 million. This represents a sharp decrease of 74.98% compared to $119.17 million in Q1 2024. On a year-on-year basis, equity investment also dropped by 65.33% from $86.02 million in Q2 2023.

Meanwhile, the “Other Capital” component of FDI, recorded only $0.0085 million in inflows for Q2 2024, down by 33.33% from $0.01275 million in both the first quarter of 2024 and the same period in 2023.

Further analysis shows that FDI accounted for just 1.15% of the total capital importation, which amounted to $2.60 billion for the quarter. The bulk of the capital inflows came from foreign currency loans, which contributed $2.55 billion, representing 98.08% of the total.

In addition to the FDI decline, Nigeria saw significant drops in both portfolio investments and foreign currency loans during the second quarter. Portfolio investments fell to $1.40 billion, a sharp decline of 74.97% from $5.60 billion in Q1 2024, and a 65.33% drop from $4.05 billion in Q2 2023. Foreign loans also recorded an inflow of $1.15 billion, reflecting a 74.98% decrease from $4.60 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

Despite these declines, Nigeria’s overall capital importation increased by 152.81% year-on-year, with $2.60 billion in Q2 2024 compared to $1.03 billion in Q2 2023. However, this figure marks a 22.85% decline from the $3.38 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2024.

The NBS report highlighted portfolio investments as the primary driver of capital inflows, contributing $1.40 billion, or 53.93% of the total for Q2 2024.