Latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics indicates that the Manufacturing sector, in the third quarter of 2023, attracted a total of $279.51 million in Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs).
The figures obtained from the NBS Q3 Foreign Capital Importation, represents a drop of around 216.46% when compared with the figure for the previous quarter which stood at $605.04 million.
According to the report, on a year-on-year basis, FDI to the manufacturing sector declined by 71.2% from $392.54 recorded in Q3, 2022 to its figure in the quarter under review.
However, in the first nine months of 2023, the manufacturing sector received around $1.14 billion in foreign capital.
This represents an increase of $415.82 million when compared to the $724.75 million received in the same period of 2022.
The report also disclosed that the decline in foreign capital is not unique to the manufacturing sector but to the general economy in Q3.
Total capital importation for Q3 stood at $654.65 million which represents a drop of 36.45% when compared to the figure recorded in Q2 ($1.03 billion).
Every year, foreign capital declined by 43.55% from the $1.16 billion recorded in the same quarter of 2022.
It would be recalled that the manufacturing sector in the past few years has been faced with a series of problems that have curtailed its growth.
These problems include; rising foreign exchange rates, high energy costs occasioned by epileptic power supply, multiple taxation, inflation.
A review of the performance of some manufacturing firms listed on the NGX reveals that 8 companies recorded a foreign exchange loss of -N129.811 billion while only three of these companies recorded a foreign exchange gain of just N3.49 billion.
This coupled with the difficulty of multinationals in the manufacturing space to repatriate cash has resulted in notable exits in recent times. (Independent).
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