Nigeria’s Capital Importation Rises to $8.5bn in Q1, 2019

• Nigeria’s Capital Importation Rises to $8.5bn in Q1, 2019

The total capital inflow into the Nigerian economy in the first quarter of the year stood at $8.48 billion, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported.

The amount represents an increase of 216.03 percent and 34.61 percent when compared to Q4 2018 and Q1 2018, respectively.

Breaking down the report, Portfolio Investment received the largest capital inflow in the Q1 2019, accounted for 84.21 percent ($7.145.98 billion) of the total capital importation, while Other Investment constituted 12.91 percent ($1.1 billion) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) represented 2.86 percent ($243.36 million) of the total capital imported in the quarter.

A sectoral analysis showed the banking sector dominated with $2.9 billion of the total capital importation in the first quarter.

While the United Kingdom emerged as the top source of capital investment in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2019 with $4.53 billion total investment. This represents 53.40 percent of the total capital inflow in the quarter.

According to the NBS, Lagos state emerged as the top destination of capital investment in the country during the quarter with a total capital inflow of $4.8 billion. This accounted for 56.25 percent of the total capital inflow in the quarter.