Published 18th Feb, 2024

A report has shown that only half of the 36 states in Nigeria attracted foreign investors in three years.

According to the report, published by the National Bureau of Statistics, all of these 18 states received zero foreign investment from 2021 to 2023.

These states are Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Nasarawa, Yobe, Sokoto, Zamfara, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kebbi, Enugu and Edo State.

During the same period, the states with the highest amount of foreign investment were Lagos, Rivers, FCT and Ekiti.

STATE	2019 ($ million)	2020 ($ million)	2021 ($ million)	2022 ($ million)	2023 ($ million)
Bauchi	0.10	—–	—–	—–	—–
Benue	25.03	—–	—–	—–	—–
Borno	0.50	—–	—–	—–	—–
Nassrawa	0.10	—–	—–	—–	—–
Yobe	—–	—–	—–	—–	—–
Sokoto	—–	2.50	—–	—–	—–
Zamfara	—–	—–	—–	—–	—–
Cross River	25.85	—–	—–	—–	—–
Ebonyi	—–	—–	—–	—–	—–
Edo	1.87	—–	—–	—–	—–
Enugu	0.05	—–	—–	—–	—–
Gombe	—–	—–	—–	—–	—–
Imo	3.00	—–	—–	—–	—–
Jigawa	—–	—–	—–	—–	—–
Kaduna	4.63	4.03	—–	—–	—–
Kebbi	—–	—–	—–	—–	—–
Edo	1.87	—–	—–	—–	—–
Enugu	0.05

Foreign investments by states, according to the NBS

Experts have argued that insecurity is a major challenge to foreign investment in Nigeria. FIJ also observed that 11 of the 18 states are in northern Nigeria, where insecurity is rife. There are five northeastern states on the list, three northwestern states, and two states from the north-central region.

In 2023, the United Nations reported that over 3.5 million Nigerians had been displaced due to a crisis of insecurity in Nigeria. A report by Humangle also revealed that, as of 2022, the northwestern and north-central regions of Nigeria were the most violent in the country.

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