The sum of $22 billion (N7.17 trillion) has been attracted for 41 projects across 22 states from January to August this year as foreign direct investments (FDIs), the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Ms Yewande Sadiku, has said.
Speaking at the just concluded ITU Telecom World 2017 at Busan, South Korea, Sadiku said that signified that investors’ interest for Nigeria remained strong.
In the data she presented at the Nigeria Investment Forum during the telecom event, Sadiku named the countries from where the FDIs flowed as the United Kingdom with about $6 billion investment in oil and gas sector in Bayelsa State; $4.1billion from China in textiles, garment manufacturing, aviation, hospitality in three states of Kano, Aba and Anambra; some investments worth $3.6 billion in petrochemicals sector went to Bayelsa State.
She said an additional $3.91 billion investment from the United States of America in the power, oil and gas, rail and petrochemical went to states such as Ogun, Kano, Cross River, Delta, Oyo, Kwara, Niger, Kaduna, Rivers, Aba, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno and Bayelsa.
Also, the manufacturing sector attracted $1.5 billion from Indonesia for a fertilizer project in Rivers while the construction sector got $500 million in Benue State. The renewable energy sector also got a boost with $290 million from France in Delta State.
Other investments from Belgium, Japan and others worth $2.77 billion went to Osun, Anambra, Rivers, Nasarawa, Katsina and Kebbi.
She said beside the FDIs, the country has received local investment of about $450 million in agriculture in Niger and Kebbi.
She attributed the huge flow of foreign investments to a shift in policies by the President Buhari-led government, especially in the area of ease of doing business and foreign exchange stability.
She told the telecom investors that any decision not to invest in Nigeria now by them will surely be retracted in the future.
The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, gave assurance that the commission is ready to assist existing and interested investors with good regulations and policies.
