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32 States Fail To Attract Investment In Q2

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…Lagos, Anambra, Ekiti welcome foreign investments

Thirty-two states failed to attract capital importation in the second quarter of 2022, according to a Foreign Direct Investment data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

Of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, only Lagos, Abuja, Anambra, Ekiti, and Kogi witnessed capital inflows.

Cumulative capital inflows totalled $1.54bn. Lagos ($1.05bn) attracted the most capital in the period under review, followed by Abuja at $453.95m, Anambra at $24.71m, Kogi at $2m, and Ekiti at $500,000.

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READ ALSO: Inflation Pushing Truckers Out Of Business, Group Laments

According to the data from the NBS, the states had been attracting enough foreign investments.

In the first quarter, only six states attracted a total of $1.57bn as capital importation.

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The states included Abuja, Anambra, Katsina, Lagos, Oyo, and Plateau.

Generally, capital importation into the nation has been on a steady decline.

In its ‘Nigerian Capital Importation’ report for Q2, 2022, the nation’s statistics body said, “The total value of capital importation into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2022 stood at $1.54bn from $875.62m in the corresponding quarter of 2021, showing an increase of 75.34 per cent.

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“When compared to the preceding quarter, capital importation decreased by 2.40 per cent from $1.57bn. The largest amount of capital importation was received through Portfolio Investment, which accounted for 49.33 per cent ($757.32m). This was followed by Other Investment with 41.09 per cent ($630.87m) and Foreign Direct Investment accounted for 9.58 per cent ($147.16m) of total capital imported in Q2 2022.

“Disaggregated by Sectors, capital importation into banking had the highest inflow of $646.36m amounting to 42.10 per cent of total capital imported in the second quarter of 2022. This was followed by capital imported into the production sector, valued at $233.99m (15.24m), and the financing sector with $197.31m (12.85 per cent).”

READ ALSO: PoS Transactions Jump To N8tn – NIBSS Report

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The United Kingdom ($781.05m) was the largest source of capital importation, followed by Singapore and the Republic of South Africa which brought in $138.58m and $122.26m respectively.

In an earlier interview with The PUNCH, an ECOWAS Common Investment Market consultant, Prof. Jonathan Aremu, had said, “It’s simple. It’s because they don’t have the attractive factors. The factors that attract foreign investment are not available in those states.

One thing about investment is that it is crisis shy. Investment doesn’t go to places where there are crisis. Why? Because investors want stability and predictability of their investments, particularly, having returns on their investments.

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“When an economy is witnessing what we are witnessing currently, despite the investment potential of that kind of economy, investors will wait and see whether the factors that can guarantee predictable and sustainable investments will finally be available.”

READ ALSO: Anxiety As Families Declare Imo Wedding Guests Missing

The Co-Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Comercio Partners Asset Management, Tosin Oshunkoya, recently said foreign investors’ attraction to the Nigerian economy was waning.

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He said, “The ravaging trend of inflation across major developed economies has triggered hawkish policy responses such as interest rate hikes, which tend to spur capital repatriation from frontier economies such as Nigeria while discouraging foreign capital inflows into the local economy, particularly through foreign portfolio investments.

“Furthermore, the impact of global headwinds does not entirely absolve the local economy of blame, as persistent tightness in the currency market and unabated insecurity remained a fundamental threat to foreign investors in the review quarter.”

PUNCH.

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CBN Sets POS Maximum Transactions In Fresh Guidelines

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The Central Bank of Nigeria has rolled out fresh guidelines for agent banking, known as Point of Sales, across the country.

The apex also in the guidelines pegged daily POS transactions at N1.2 million per agent and N100,000 per individual.

CBN disclosed this in a circular signed by its Director of the Payments System Management Department, Musa Jimoh.

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The guidelines further mandate all financial institutions to publish the list of all their POS agents on their website and to display it in their branches.

READ ALSO:CBN Establishes New Unit To Tackle Financial Crime

CBN noted that the guidelines would take effect from April 1, 2026.

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“The Guidelines aim to establish minimum standards for operating agent banking in Nigeria, enhancing agent banking to provide financial services and promoting financial inclusion, encouraging responsible market conduct and improving service quality in agent banking operations.

“This circular takes effect from the date of release, while the implementation of agent location and agent exclusivity shall be in effect from April 1, 2026.

“POS agents are restricted to a maximum of N1.2 million per day. Individual customers are limited to N100,000 in daily transactions.

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“These limits are intended to curb misuse, enhance financial integrity, and protect consumers within the agent banking framework,” it stated.

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Naira Records First Appreciation Against US Dollar At Official Market

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The Naira recorded appreciation on Wednesday against the United States dollar at the official market, the first time in three days this week.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate data showed that the Naira strengthened to N 1,470.62 per dollar on Wednesday, up from N1,471.09 traded on Tuesday.

This means that the country’s currency firmed up slightly by N0.47 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis.

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READ ALSO:Naira Appreciates Massively Against US Dollar In The Black Market, Highest In 15 Months

Monday and Tuesday, the Naira recorded negative sentiment at the official foreign exchange market.

However, at the black market, the Naira remained unchanged at N1,500 per dollar on Wednesday, the same rate exchanged on Tuesday.

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The apex bank data indicated that the country’s external reserves, a determinant of the exchange rates, stood at $42.57 billion as of October 7, 2025.

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SEC Warns Nigerians Of AfriQuantumX Ponzi scheme

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Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has named AfriQuatum, with a claimed worth of N76 billion, as a Ponzi scheme.

The regulator also urged the public to be cautious about investing with the firm.

SEC disclosed this in a recent statement.

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According to the SEC, any person who places an investment or engages with the entity does so at his or her own risk, adding that its operations exhibit characteristics commonly associated with fraudulent Ponzi schemes.

READ ALSO:SEC Warns Nigerians Over AI-generated Investment Scams

“The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been drawn to the activities of AfriQuantumX, which holds itself out as an investment platform trading on and selling cryptocurrency and stocks to investors in Nigeria.

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“The Commission hereby informs the public that AfriQuantumX is not registered by the Commission either to solicit investments from the public or operate in any capacity within the Nigerian capital market,” SEC stated.

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