•Peter Obi
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has knocked the present administration’s poor leadership and weak governance for Nigeria’s declining Foreign Direct Investment.
On his X page, Obi stated that sustainable economic growth and development cannot be achieved through weak governance, blaming the declining FDIs on poor leadership.
“Let me reiterate: sustainable economic growth and development cannot be achieved through poor leadership and weak governance—problems that are clearly reflected in declining FDI and our poor performance in key governance indicators.
“While the president, ministers, and other government officials continue their global galivanting in search of FDI, our poor performance in key governance indicators – such as rule of law, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, and voice and accountability – continues to prove that you cannot attract sustainable foreign investment with poor leadership and governance,” he said.
He pointed out that according to a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics, FDI to Nigeria sharply declined by about 70 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, falling to only $126.29m from $421.8m in the last quarter of 2024.
The NBS statistics also stated that of the total capital importation of about $5.64 billion in the first quarter of 2025, FDI accounted for only about 2.24 per cent, compared to 8.2 per cent in Q4 2024.
“Disturbingly, about 90 per cent of the imported capital went into speculative money market instruments. With such a high proportion of capital importation flowing into speculative investments, the impact on industrial growth or job creation is highly insignificant and elusive, given the ease with which such “hot money” can exit the economy.
“To further illustrate our precarious situation, capital flows to the manufacturing sector declined exponentially by 32.1 per cent, dropping to only $129.92m in Q1 2025 from $191.92m in the same quarter of 2023. There is no better confirmation of the lack of trust in this government, whose reforms remain uncoordinated and largely reactive.
“Most disappointingly, our dear nation, Nigeria—the so-called “Giant of Africa”—received only $1.08bn, about 1 per cent of Africa’s total FDI, representing a decline of about 42 per cent from 2023. Worse still, after this 42 per cent drop between 2023 and 2024, FDI to Nigeria has further declined by 75 per cent between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. We cannot achieve sustainable growth and development with ineffective leadership and a weak government,” he lamented.
In 2024, while global FDI flows declined, FDI to Africa significantly increased to $97bn—a rise of about 75 per cent compared to 2023. Europe, the United States, and China were the main sources of this FDI.
Egypt attracted the highest share in Africa, with $46.58 bn. Other top recipients included Ethiopia ($3.98 billion), Côte d’Ivoire ($3.80 billion), Mozambique ($3.55 billion), Uganda ($3.30 billion), Democratic Republic of Congo ($3.11 billion), South Africa ($2.47 billion), Namibia ($2.06 billion), Senegal ($2.02 billion), Guinea ($1.83 billion), and Morocco ($1.64 billion).
