VenturesNow

Worst in 10 years: 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states got zero FDI in 2021

Published

1 year ago

April 5, 2022

Nigeria’s official data source, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released data (Pdf), which indicated that 24 out of 36 states of the Nigerian Federation got no Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the year 2021.

The West African country only managed to generate a total of $698.7m from Foreign Direct Investments in 2021 which according to the NBS was the lowest the country recorded in 10 years.

As expected, Lagos state, the commercial capital of Nigeria got the highest FDI in the year in review with 5,823.36, followed by Abuja which recorded 833.40

A foreign direct investment (FDI) is a purchase of an interest in a company by a company or an investor located outside its borders. Generally, the term is used to describe a business decision to acquire a substantial stake in a foreign business or to buy it outright in order to expand its operations to a new region. It is not usually used to describe a stock investment in a foreign company.

The 24 states that attracted not FD1 in 2021 are Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

Table showing 2021 quarterly Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) figures across Nigerian states.

FDI is one of the three major types of investments and a critical source of capital inflow into a country. Other sources include foreign portfolio investment, foreign loans, and trade credits, among other investments.

Companies considering a foreign direct investment generally look only at companies in open economies that offer a skilled workforce and above-average growth prospects for the investor. Light government regulation also tends to be a strong factor. Nigeria to a large extent is lagging behind on those metrics, with policy inconsistency that characterized the Nigerian economy like the closure of the Nigerian land borders in August 2019, the economy cannot be said to be “open” and neither is Nigeria’s skilled workforce above average.

VenturesNow

Kenya: Parliament approves appointment of Kamau Thugge as central bank governor

Published

7 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Months after throwing open the position for the country’s top banker, Kenya’s parliament has approved the appointment of Kamau Thugge as the country’s central bank governor.

The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the
appointment of economist and senior civil servant who was nominated by President William Ruto as the next apex bank chief.

Thugge, who served as principal secretary in the finance ministry until mid-2018, was nominated after serving as one of the president’s senior economic advisers since late last year.

He shook off competition from others shortlisted candidates like Adan Mohamed, who served in the cabinet from 2013-2022, with four others also interviewed for the role.

The new central bank governor will be faced with the immediate pressure of stabilizing the country’s monetary policy as the East African giant currently faces a shortage of funds amidst rising public debt.

Despite the odds, the World Bank in a report earlier today expects growth to edge up to 5.0% in 2023, underpinned by a recovery in agriculture.

VenturesNow

Ghana presents ‘working proposal’ for debt restructuring— IMF sources

Published

8 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

West African country, Ghana has made a major move at resolving its debt crisis as the country has presented debt restructuring proposal to its creditors.

According to sources quoted by Reuters, a “working proposal” has been submitted to help the country escape its worst economic crisis in a generation.

One of the sources revealed that the proposal was a first attempt to engage the official creditor committee after its formation in May. It should be recalled that the Paris Club last month announced that official sector of creditors of Ghana had formed a committee co-chaired by China and France for debt restructuring talks.

The plan is to end restructuring of domestic debt before turning to negotiations with its official bilateral creditors and international bondholders, a government official said.

Ghana is one of several cash-strapped countries facing unprecedented delays in getting bailouts as China, its biggest bilateral creditor with about $1.7 billion of debt and Western economies disagree over how debt relief should be structured.

The first formal review of the programme will hold in the coming months as an IMF team will visit Ghana between 8th and 15th of June.