By Favour Nnabugwu

The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) said it tracked $8.99 billion as investment announcements in the third quarter of 2021 (Q3 ’21), with Lagos State accounting for 81 percent at $7.29 billion during the period.

NIPC reported this on its website yesterday, adding that the investment announcements in Q3 ’21 was 130 percent higher than the value of $3.95 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2020 (Q3 ’20). It added that the total investment announcements so far tracked this year (January to September) stands at $19.10 billion.

The Commission further noted that a total of 33 projects were tracked across 8 States during the period. NIPC stated: “The month of August was the most active during the quarter, accounting for 64 percent of the total announcements.

“The top 10 announcements accounted for 96 percent of the volume tracked. Compared to Q3 2020, there is a marked improvement in the level of confidence in the investing community post COVID-19.

“In the period covered by the report, Lagos State received the largest share of the announcements with 20 projects accounting for 81 percent ($7.29 billion) of the total in manufacturing, information and communications, finance and insurance, human health and social services, and electricity.

“Rivers State recorded $300 million worth of announcements in manufacturing and transportation, and Oyo State had $231 million announced in electricity and trade (e-commerce).

“The four States accounted for 87 percent of the total investments.”

On a sectoral basis, NIPC reported that the sectors with the most investment announcements tracked were manufacturing (42percent), electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (25percent), information and communications (23percent) and transportation (7percent).

The Commission added that domestic investors were the most active during the period accounting for 47 percent of the announcements, followed by announcements from South Korea (22percent), South Africa (16percent), and the Kingdom of Spain (6percent).

NIPC noted that its report is based only on the news articles tracked from July to September 2021, adding that “it may not contain exhaustive information on all investment announcements in Nigeria during the period”.

The Commission however noted that the report, nevertheless, gives a sense of investors’ interest in the Nigerian economy.
NIPC further stated that it did not independently verify the authenticity of the investment announcements but is working on tracking the announcements as they progress to actual investments.