Global foreign direct investment (FDI) collapsed in 2020, falling 42% from $1.5 trillion in 2019 to an estimated $859 billion, according to the latest UNCTAD Investment Trends Monitor, with Nigeria earning $2.6billion of the global volume.
According to the trade body, such a low level was last seen in the 1990s and is more than 30% below the investment trough that followed the 2008-2009 global financial crises.
Despite projections for the global economy to recover in 2021 – albeit hesitant and uneven – UNCTAD expects FDI flows to remain weak due to uncertainty over the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization had projected a 5-10% FDI slide in 2021 in last year’s World Investment Report.
“The effects of the pandemic on investment will linger,” said James Zhan, Director of UNCTAD’s Investment Division. “Investors are likely to remain cautious in committing capital to new overseas productive assets.”
According to the report, the decline in FDI was concentrated in developed countries, where flows plummeted by 69% to an estimated $229 billion.
In Africa, Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy attracted a total FDI of $2.6 billion in 2020 down from the $3.3 billion it attracted a year earlier. South Africa, a major competitor for FDI inflows in Sub Saharan Africa attracted less with $2.5 billion the report highlights.
According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the total value of capital importation into Nigeria stood at $1.46 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020. This represents an increase of 12.86% compared to Q2 2020, and -74.03% fall from Q3 2019.
The largest amount of capital importation by type was received through Other investment, which accounted for 43.75% ($639.44million) of total capital importation, followed by FDI, 28.38% ($414.79million), and Portfolio Investment 27.87% ($407.25million) of total capital imported in Q3 2020.
Egypt recorded the highest influx of FDI among African countries with a total inflow of $5.5 billion representing a whopping 38% drop. Despite the drop, Egypt remains the top investment destination in Africa.
