Ike Amos
Dublin, Ireland — A sharp decline was recorded in total foreign capital imported into the Nigerian oil and gas industry in the first three quarters of 2023, as foreign portfolio investment in the sector between January and September 2023 dipped by 61.1 per cent to $1.6 million.
This, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), was in comparison to the $4.11 million recorded in the same period in 2022.
The NBS noted that in the nine-month period of 2023, the oil and gas industry accounted for 0.057 per cent of total foreign portfolio investment in the country in 2023, compared with 0.096 per cent of the total the sector recorded in the same period in 2022.
Giving a breakdown of inflow into the oil and gas industry in 2023, the NBS stated that in the first quarter, foreign portfolio investment of $0.75 million was recorded in the sector; no inflow was recorded in the second quarter of 2023, while $0.85 million inflow was recorded in the third quarter.
In comparison, in the first quarter of 2022, foreign portfolio of $0.61 million was recorded in the oil and gas industry, while in the second and third quarter of 2022, inflow of $1.93 million and $1.57 million was recorded in the sector, respectively.
In general, total portfolio investment inflow into the country in the nine-month period of 2023 stood at $2.817, comprising $1.133 billion, $1.03 billion and $654.55 million in the first, second and third quarter, respectively.
In comparison, total portfolio investment into the economy in the nine-month period of 2022 stood at N4.268 billion, with inflow of $1.573 billion; $1.535 billion and $1.159 billion recorded in the first, second and third quarter of 2022, respectively.
In its analysis of foreign investment inflow into the economy in the third quarter of 2023, the NBS noted that total capital importation into Nigeria stood at $654.65 million, lower than the $1.159 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2022, indicating a decline of 43.55 per cent.
It added that in comparison to the preceding quarter, capital importation fell by 36.45 per cent from $1.03 billion in Q2 2023.
The NBS said: “Other Investment ranked top accounting for 77.56 per cent ($507.77 million) of total capital importation in the third quarter of 2023, followed by Portfolio Investment with 13.31 per cent ($87.11 million) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with 9.13 per cent ($59.77 million).
“The production/manufacturing sector recorded the highest inflow with $279.51 million, representing 42.70 per cent of total capital imported in the third quarter of 2023, followed by the financing sector, valued at $127.93 million (19.54 per cent), and Shares with $85.49 million (13.06 per cent).”
The NBS reported that capital Importation during the nine-month period originated largely from the Netherlands with $175.62 million, and recorded 26.83 per cent share of the total capital imported; followed by Singapore with $79.15 million (12.09 per cent of the total) and the United States with $67.04 million (10.24 per cent of the total).
