Capital inflow to Nigeria has crashed by 80 per cent in two years, the Central Bank of Nigeria reports have indicated. Specifically, capital inflow to Nigeria fell from $17.1bn in July 2019 to $3.4bn in July 2021.
The central bank reports showed that Nigeria recorded $17.1bn capital inflow between January and July, 2019. However, between January and July, 2021, the country recorded only $3.4bn as capital inflow, indicating a fall of 80 per cent. Furthermore, capital inflow fell from $8.6bn in 2020 to $3.4bn in 2021. The figures were obtained from the CBN’s monthly economic report.
The CBN attributed the crash to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but economic and financial experts listed rising security challenges, exchange rate fluctuation, and difficulty in repatriation of profit by foreign companies among other factors that may have contributed to the fall.
According to the CBN, $380m, $870m, $660m and $110m were recorded as capital inflows in January, February, March and April, while $290m, $480m and $620m were recorded in May, June and July, 2021 respectively. This showed a total of $3.4bn in the first seven months of 2021.
