If you ask me, all these new ambassadors President Tinubu has appointed need to be given annual foreign direct investment targets which must be met unfailingly

Ayo Akinfe

[1] No matter how you look at it, Nigeria has no choice other than to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) if she wants to expand and diversify her economy. According to the Africa Development Bank, Nigeria has an annual investment deficit of $100bn

[2] In 2022, total FDI into Nigeria only added up to a paltry $3.3bn, according to the World Bank. That year, FDI dropped from the $1.87 of 2023 abd it then fell further to $1.08bn in 2024. Even at its all-time high in 2008, Nigerian FDI only totalled $4.7bn

[3] Annually, it is not unusual for as many as 32 of Nigeria’s 36 states not to attract one dollar of FDI. We need our ambassadors and high commissioners to reverse this as without investment, we are going round in incoherent circles chasing our tails

[4] According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), only Lagos, Oyo, Katsina and Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) attracted any FDI during the first three months of 2022. How the governors of those other states look at themselves in the mirror every morning is totally beyond me

[5] Across the Nigerian economy, sectors like power distribution, railway lines, food processing, the hospitality trade, etc, are all suffering from neglect because of inadequate investment. We are too dependent on state investment in infrastructure as an economy and our envoys should be the ones charged with addressing this anomaly

[6] Basically, in too many sectors and too many states, Nigeria is not attracting the required capital to get going. With no FDI, how do you create jobs, open up new frontiers, develop infrastructure and set up new industries?

[7] However you look at it, this needs to become an urgent priority. Every ambassador and high commissioner that has just been nominated needs to be given a stringent FDI target that must be met unfailingly. In the private sector, managers, reps, salespeople, etc all have to meet targets set for them, so why is this not the case in the public sector too

[8] If any ambassador or high commissioner does not meet his or her target, that person should be recalled from their duty post after a year in my opinion

[9] Envoys to G7 nations should be made to put together entire FDI directorates with a desk in each sector of the economy/agriculture, manufacturing, power supply, railways, healthcare, sports, education, housing, etc

[10] Just to see how far we are lagging behind, check out some global 10 FDI figures for 2024:

[1] US – $151bn

[2] China - $116.2bn

[3] India - $81bn

[4] Brazil - $71bn

[5] Indonesia -$60bn

[6] Egypt - $47bn

[7] Germany - €43bn

[8] Vietnam - $38.2bn

[9] Netherlands - $23.5bn

[10] Japan - $21.4bn

*Nigeria - An embarrassing €1.08bn

Figures like this do not shame us as a people, which is why we are in our current economic predicament. If na owanbe or religion now, my people would have done something to address this matter

ayoakinfe@gmail.com