Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, has strongly criticized the Federal Government (FG) over the significant decline in Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In a press statement released on Friday, Obi attributed the alarming 70% drop in FDI to poor leadership, weak governance, and uncoordinated reforms.
Obi dismissed the government’s frequent overseas trips in search of investment as mere “global galivanting,” arguing that these efforts fail to address the underlying issues that deter investors. He emphasized that Nigeria’s poor performance in critical governance indicators, including the rule of law, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, and voice and accountability, significantly undermines its attractiveness to sustainable foreign capital.
Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Obi highlighted that FDI plummeted by approximately 70% in the first quarter of 2025, falling from $421.8 million in Q4 2024 to a mere $126.29 million. He further noted that FDI accounted for only 2.24% of the total $5.64 billion capital imported in Q1 2025, a sharp decline from the 8.2% recorded in the previous quarter.
“Disturbingly, about 90% of the imported capital went into speculative money market instruments, which have little to no impact on industrial growth or job creation. This ‘hot money’ can leave the economy just as quickly as it came in,” he cautioned.
Obi also expressed concern over the 32.1% decline in investment in the manufacturing sector, which fell to $129.92 million in Q1 2025 from $191.92 million in the same period of 2023. He sees this as a clear indicator of declining investor confidence in the government’s economic direction.
While global FDI to Africa surged by 75% to $97 billion in 2024, Nigeria attracted a paltry $1.08 billion, representing only about 1% of the continent’s total and a 42% decrease from 2023. In contrast, Egypt led the continent with $46.58 billion, followed by Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Uganda, DR Congo, South Africa, Namibia, Senegal, Guinea, and Morocco.
“After a 42% drop in FDI between 2023 and 2024, Nigeria has now suffered another 75% decline between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025,” Obi lamented. “We cannot achieve sustainable growth and development with ineffective leadership and weak governance,” he concluded.