Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, has criticised the federal government over the sharp drop in Nigeria’s foreign direct investment (FDI).
In a post on X on Friday, Obi said no amount of overseas
trips will attract investors without good governance at home.
His comments come after President Bola announced a
two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil.
Obi accused Tinubu and top officials of “global
gallivanting” while the country’s investment climate worsens.
“While the president, ministers, and other officials
continue their global galivanting in search of FDI, our poor performance in key
governance indicators — rule of law, regulatory quality, government effectiveness,
and voice and accountability — proves you cannot attract sustainable foreign
investment with poor leadership and governance,” Obi posted.
Quoting data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS),
Obi said FDI fell by 70 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 to $126.29
million, down from $421.8 million in Q4 2024.
“Of the total capital importation of about $5.64 billion in
the first quarter of 2025, FDI accounted for only about 2.24%, compared to 8.2%
in Q4 2024,” he said.
“Disturbingly, about 90% 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.”
According to the politician, “sustainable economic growth
and development cannot be achieved through poor leadership and weak governance
— problems clearly reflected in declining FDI and our poor performance in key
governance indicators”.
“To further illustrate our precarious situation, capital
flows to the manufacturing sector declined exponentially by 32.1%, dropping to
only $129.92 million in Q1 2025 from $191.92 million in the same quarter of
2023,” he said.
‘REFORMS REMAIN UNCOORDINATED, REACTIVE’
The former Anambra governor said “there is no better
confirmation of the lack of trust in this government, whose reforms remain
uncoordinated and largely reactive”.
Obi contrasted Nigeria’s performance with other African
countries, citing a United Nations report which showed that Africa’s total FDI
rose by about 75 percent to $97 billion in 2024.
“Egypt attracted the highest share in Africa, with $46.58
billion. 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),” he said.
“Most disappointingly, our dear nation, Nigeria—the
so-called “Giant of Africa”—received only $1.08 billion, about 1% of Africa’s
total FDI, representing a decline of about 42% from 2023.
“Worse still, after this 42% drop between 2023 and 2024, FDI
to Nigeria has further declined by 75% between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025.”
Obi said Nigeria “cannot achieve sustainable growth and
development with ineffective leadership and weak government”.
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