Investment announcements tracked by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) dropped by $10.09 to $5.06 billion in the first half of 2020, compared with the $15.15 billion investments recorded in the first half of 2019, translating to 67 per cent decline.
In the report released at the weekend, NIPC stated that, “The decline is consistent with the expected downward pressure on investment flows given the negative global economic impact of COVID-19.”
In the report, NIPC, which tracked 34 projects across 16 states, FCT and the Niger Delta from January to June, 2020, listed the top investment destinations during the period as Kaduna State ($2.61bn), Lagos ($221m), Nasarawa ($56m), Ekiti ($50m) and Cross River ($15m).
The United States of America was the most active source of investments during the period, with 43 per cent of the announcements.
The other major sources were South Africa (31 per cent), domestic investors (16 per cent) and the United Kingdom (eight per cent).
While the report may not contain exhaustive information on all investment announcements in Nigeria during the period, it however, gives a sense of investors’ interest in the Nigerian economy.
“NIPC did not independently verify the authenticity of the investment announcements but is working on tracking the announcements to facilitate their progress to actual investments,” the commission revealed.
Meanwhile, NIPC announced that negotiations with the leadership of the NIPC staff union on their industrial action had been concluded.
A statement released by the commission’s Director, Strategic Communication Department, Mr. Emeka Offor, indicated that after extensive discussions with union officials over several days, two agreements were signed by all parties on Friday to end the week-long industrial action.
