The total value of capital importation into Nigeria for the first quarter of 2019 stood at $8.485 billion as recorded by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics in its “Nigerian Capital Importation (Q1 2019) Report”.
This value represents an increase of 216.03 percent compared to Q4 2018 and 34.61 percent increase when compared to the same period last year (Q1 2018).
The largest amount of capital importation by type was received through portfolio investment which stood at 7.145 billion U.S. Dollars (84.21% of total capital importation). This was followed by Other Investment, which accounted for 12.91% ($1.096 billion) of total capital importation and then the Foreign Direct Investment which accounted for 2.86% ($243 million).
In terms of sector, Capital importation by Banking dominated the first quarter of 2019 reaching a total of $2.851 billion. This was also followed by Shares which accounted for a total of $2.403 billion and Financing which accounted for $2.139.
The report also stated that the United Kingdom emerged as the top source of capital investment in Nigeria with $4.5 billion, this accounted for 53.40% of the total capital inflow in Q1 2019.
By Destination of Investment, Lagos state emerged as the destination with the highest capital investment in Nigeria in Q1 2019 with $4.773 billion. This accounted for 56.25 percent of the total capital inflow in Q1 2019. Lagos was followed closely by Abuja recorded a total value of $3.585 billion.
A country with such meager capital importation like Nigeria should be concerned about boosting it and not be spending the little imported capital on luxury items like shoes, cars, wristwatches and other fashion items.
