Despite Ranking Top On Ease Of Doing Business, Gombe Gets Zero Foreign Investment In 5 Years
Despite its several ratings as ‘the best in the ease of doing business in the country’, Gombe State has got zero foreign investments in the last five years under Governor Yahaya led administration.
Recall that the state governor Inuwa Yahaya has come up with some initiatives such as hosting international investment summit in the state and establishment of multi-billion industrial park which earned the state the titles of best in the ease of doing business.
However, despite the rankings, it was discovered that there were no foreign investments in the state in the past five years.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which made the revelation said Gombe and seven others states of Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kebbi, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara all recorded zero foreign investments within the period under review.
It ascribed the development to foreign capital inflow into the country that dropped by 26.4 per cent to $3.9 billion in 2023 from $5.3 billion in 2022.
According to National Bureau of Statistics, Lagos State topped the list of states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), that attracted the most foreign direct investments in 2023.
The state raked in $2.50 billion, representing 64 per cent of the total capital inflow into the country, while the FCT emerged as the second top investment destination with $1.17 billion or 30 per cent of the total capital inflow.
Other states that attracted foreign investments in 2023 as stated by the NBS are Abia $150.09 million, Akwa Ibom $39.13 million, Ogun $27.09 million, and Rivers $6 million. Adamawa attracted $4.5 million, Anambra $4 million, Niger $1.50 million, Ondo $200,000 and Ekiti $51,000.
The latest data released by the NBS showed that foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in 2023 was $1.15 billion, indicating 29.5 per cent of the $3.91 billion total capital importation recorded in the year.
On the other hand, foreign direct investment (FDI) stood at $377.4 million, and other investment was $2.38 billion in the year. The report indicated that Lagos State was the top investment destination in the year, attracting 64 percent investment while eight states recorded zero investment from 2019 to 2023.
On a quarterly basis, the report revealed that in the fourth quarter of 2024 (Q4 2023), total capital importation into Nigeria stood at $1.09 billion, representing 2.62 per cent increase, year-on-year (YoY) over the $1,06 billion recorded in Q4 2022. The capital importation in Q4 2023 however indicated a significant rise of 66.27 per cent over the $654.65 million recorded in Q3 2023.
According to the report, production/manufacturing received a $450 million capital inflow, representing 41.35 percent of the total capital importation, followed by banking, which raked in $283 million or 26.03 percent during the Q4 of 2023.
