11 investment picks shun Nigeria as FG records $5bn FDI

President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima undertook 41 trips across 23 countries in their first 17 months in office, spending 180 days, equivalent to six months, on foreign engagements.

Analysis shows that Tinubu, with the longer mileage, logged over 124 days abroad, visiting 16 countries on 29 trips.

So far, the President has visited Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; London, the United Kingdom (four times); Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (twice); Nairobi, Kenya; Porto Norvo, Benin Republic; The Hague, Netherlands; Pretoria, South Africa; Accra, Ghana; New Delhi, India; Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; New York, the United States of America; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (twice); Berlin, Germany; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dakar, Senegal and Doha, Qatar.

Meanwhile, Shettima has spent 56 days abroad, visiting 10 countries on 12 unique and recurrent trips. He has also accumulated over 93 flight hours.

Shettima has so far visited Rome, Italy; St. Petersburg, Russia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Havana, Cuba; Beijing, China; Iowa and New York in the United States of America; Davos, Switzerland; Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast (twice); Nairobi, Kenya and Stockholm, Sweden.

However, despite the intense diplomatic efforts, data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that Nigeria recorded no foreign capital from 11 of these countries in the first half of 2024.

Tinubu’s engagements in Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Benin Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, and Qatar yielded no results.

Likewise, Shettima’s outreach to Russia, Cuba, and Ivory Coast failed to attract any capital inflow.

Notably, even Kenya, which both Tinubu and Shettima visited, recorded no foreign investment in H1 2024, highlighting the challenges Nigeria faces in converting diplomatic engagements into tangible economic benefits.

$5.06bn from 12 countries

In contrast, 12 other countries contributed a total of $5.06bn during the same period, marking a significant 201.7 per cent increase from the $1.68bn recorded in H1 2023.

Countries visited exclusively by Tinubu accounted for the bulk of Nigeria’s investment inflows, contributing $4.16bn.

These countries include the United Kingdom, Netherlands, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, India, Germany, Ethiopia, Benin Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Senegal, and Qatar.

Among these, the United Kingdom made the most significant impact, with investments rising by 263.5 per cent, from $805.13m in H1 2023 to $2.93bn in H1 2024.

Shettima’s visits to countries such as Russia, China, Italy, Cuba, Ivory Coast, Sweden, and Switzerland generated $56.09m, a more modest contribution to the total capital inflow.

One standout from Shettima’s visits was China, which contributed $35.64m in H1 2024, compared to just $0.25m in the previous year.

Switzerland followed with an increase from $0.01m to $19.35m, while Italy saw a token inflow of $0.04m for the first time.

Three countries, Kenya, South Africa, and the United States were visited by both leaders, yielding $1.25bn in capital inflows.

South Africa’s contribution rose sharply by 267.5 per cent, from $228.09m in H1 2023 to $838.32m in H1 2024, while Kenya recorded no inflows.

In contrast, investments from the United States dropped by 53.5 per cent, from $367.28m to $170.86m.

The Netherlands emerged as another top contributor, with investment inflows increasing 901.7 per cent, from $65.88m to $659.91m.

Other countries that saw improvements include Saudi Arabia, where investments rose from $0.03m to $147.07m, and Germany, with inflows increasing from $0.81m to $19.12m.

The UAE also maintained a steady inflow, with investments rising slightly from $209.41m to $245.19m.

N44.88m on visas

Meanwhile, checks by our correspondent using GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal Government’s spending, showed that a total sum of N44.88m was spent by the State House on getting visas for officials, including aides to the President and the Vice President, in March 2024.

The GovSpend data showed four separate transactions, highlighting the costs incurred in securing long-term access for official engagements abroad, particularly to the United Kingdom and France.

On March 7, 2024, the State House processed two payments totalling N13.01m.

The first payment of N6.72m was issued to cover the cost of a two-year UK multiple-entry visa, while the second payment of N6.29m facilitated the 5-year multiple-entry visa to France for Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Further transactions made on March 27, 2024, revealed that N31.87m was spent on visas for aides and staff members of the State House.

Of this amount, N25.8m was allocated for long-term UK visas for several aides to President Bola Tinubu, and N6.07m covered the visa issuance for other staff members of the State House.

These payments underline the significant expenses associated with the international operations of government officials.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Abuja-based Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, earlier told The PUNCH that though foreign trips are part of governance, leaders must only pursue engagements that fetch Nigerians the highest returns.

Rafsanjani said, “I think it is essential that public officials understand that the country does not have the resources to embark on travels without significant economic value to the nation.

“While we cannot ask public officers to stop travelling altogether, they should minimise careless and reckless expenses when embarking on some of these trips.”

The Labour Party presidential candidate during the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, earlier faulted the recent foreign trips, saying they came at a time when the country was grappling with domestic challenges.

Obi maintained that it was disturbing that Tinubu and his deputy were not in the country at a time when citizens needed them the most.

He wrote, “While it is arguable that with the President and Vice President absent from the Villa, there is no vacancy in the Presidency, in a situation where both the President and Vice President are out of the country, as reported in the media yesterday, it’s concerning for a country with such myriads of domestic problems.”

The PUNCH earlier reported that Foreign Direct Investment into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2024 dropped to $29.83m, marking the lowest level ever recorded based on available data up to 2013, findings by The PUNCH showed.

An analysis of data from the latest capital importation report by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the FDI dropped by 65.33 per cent compared to the $86.03m recorded in the same period last year.

It also dropped by 74.97 per cent from the $119.18m reported in the preceding quarter of 2024.

Economists who spoke with The PUNCH blamed the significant drop in FDI on naira devaluation and unstable foreign exchange market, as the naira lost about 40 per cent of its value in the first six months of 2024.

Despite the claim by President Bola Tinubu that his administration has successfully drawn $30bn in FDI commitments, the decline in FDI highlights the challenges Nigeria faces in attracting long-term investment amid a challenging global economic environment and domestic issues.

The PUNCH further observed that FDI made up only about 1.15 per cent of the total capital importation of $2.60bn in the quarter under review.

Also, foreign currency loans, which include portfolio investments and direct loans, contributed $2.55bn, representing 98.08 per cent of the total inflows.

This preference for loans over equity investments reflects investor caution, with foreign investors opting for safer financial instruments rather than committing to long-term projects.

The reliance on foreign currency loans highlights the ongoing trend where short-term investments and debt instruments dominate Nigeria’s capital importation landscape.

While these inflows can provide immediate liquidity to the economy, they do not offer the same level of stability or growth potential as direct investments into physical assets or infrastructure.