The Central Bank of Nigeria has recently revealed that capital imports were attracted by non-share activity, with Manufacturing and Banking being responsible for most of the imports. This was said in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Economic Report for the month of August 2021.
According to the recently released report, new capital imports into the country went down by a substantial 29% to $0.44 billion in August, compared to the $0.62 billion that was recorded back in July this year.
The CBN then stated that the main interest of investors was seen in the production, banking and financing areas. The bank further analysed the capital imports, which showed that a huge amount of the capital received was funnelled into non-share activities. Manufacturing/Production saw the most imports, bringing in 36.5% of the total. Banking was second highest, as it brought in 24.5%.
In a similar vein, trading brought in a little over 13%, as financing brought in about 10.7% and the telecommunications space brought in 4.1%. Investment in shares (FDI and portfolio equities) sat at exactly 4% with other sectors of the economy making up the balance.
The major source of the capital inflow remained the United Kingdom, with the United States of America coming in behind the UK. Unsurprisingly, Lagos was the main beneficiary of the capital imports with about $0.37 billion (or 89.3% of the total capital) flowing into the economic capital of Nigeria.
The CBN report also included the countries that accompanied the United Kingdom and the United States as sources of capital inflow. The United Kingdom was the highest contributor for the month, bringing in 41.5% of the total inflow. The United States followed some way behind with a contribution of 20.6%.
After the United States came the United Arab Emirates, with a total contribution of 17.1%. The next highest contributor was the Republic of South Africa, which brought in a total of 7.7%. Congo came in next, contributing 4.5% as Denmark contributed 1.7%. The British Virgin Islands recorded the least contribution with 1.4%.