NIPC: Lagos, Ogun got 56% of investment announcements in second quarter

Lagos and Ogun emerged top as more than half of investment announcements in the second quarter (Q2) of 2021 went to the two states.

The two southwest states got a combined 56 percent of the total investments announced during the months of April, May and June.

This is according to the Q2 2021 report on investment announcement released by the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

In the first quarter, NIPC noted a surge in investment announcements after COVID-19 lockdown as Balyesa and Delta states topped investment destinations.

According to the report, Ogun received 30 percent of the announcement with a prospective $500 million investment in the state while Lagos got 26 percent with $441.3 million.

The two states are followed by Nasarawa and Rivers with a $300 million prospective investment constituting 18 percent each of the total announcements.

In the sectoral ranking, the manufacturing sector received the highest announcement with $821.4 million making up 49 percent of announcements.

The manufacturing sector is followed by electricity, information and communication, and real estate.

By source, China topped the list with $900 million constituting 53 percent of announcements in Nigeria originating from the Asian country.

The country is followed by the United Kingdom, Nigeria and the United States of America.

According to the report, a total investment announcement of $1.69 billion was made in Q2 2021.

This figure is higher than the $249.9 million investment announcement made in the corresponding period in 2020.

NIPC noted that an investment announcement is not the same as an actual investment.

Over the years, there has been a contrast between investment announcements and foreign direct investment (FDI) recorded in Nigeria.

In 2017, $66.35 billion investment announcement was made but FDI recorded during the year was $2.41 billion.

For 2018, $90.89 billion investment was announced while FDI was $0.78 billion; $29.91 billion was announced in 2019 compared to $2.31 billion FDI.

In 2020, $16.74 billion was announced as investments but a meagre $2.39 billion was an actual investment.

“The gaps between announcements and actual investments demonstrate investment potential,” the report reads.

“A more proactive all-of-government approach to investor support, across federal and state governments is required to convert more announcements to actual investments.”