Foreign direct investment inflows to Nigeria increased to $2.4 billion in 2020 from $2.3 in the previous year.
This was despite the COVID-19 pandemic that plagued global economies.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development World Investment Report 2021, Nigeria emerged as the third largest economy, alongside Ethiopia ($2.4 billion), that attracted FDI inflows in Africa last year.
Egypt was the largest recipient in Africa, even with a significant reduction of 35 per cent to $5.9 billion in 2020; followed by the Republic of the Congo ($4 billion), while South Africa was fourth with $3.1 billion (a decline of 39 per cent).
According to the report, the COVID-19 crisis caused a dramatic fall in FDIs in 2020 to push global FDI flows to $1 trillion from $1.5 trillion in 2019 (a decline of 35 per cent).
The report observed that the level of decline was almost 20 per cent below the 2009 trough after the global financial crisis.
The UN body said FDI flows in Africa likewise declined by 16 per cent to $40 billion—the lowest in 15 years — while FDI outflows fell by two thirds in 2020 to $1.6 billion from $4.9 billion in 2019.