… Portfolio Investments Account For $9.86Bn Of Inflows
The latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), indicated that Nigeria’s total capital importation surged to $10.37 billion in the first quarter of this year, representing a 60.97% increase quarter-on-quarter and 83.83% rise year-on-year.
The statistics agency in the report titled ‘Nigeria Capital Importation Q1 2026’ attributed the remarkable surge in the capital inflows to the economy to portfolio investments.
Data of the Capital Importation report for the quarter under review showed that portfolio investments accounted for the largest share of total inflows, contributing $9.86 billion, up by 79.77% compared to the preceding quarter’s value and 89.49% higher than the corresponding period of 2025.
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A breakdown of portfolio investments reflected that money market instruments attracted the highest inflows at $6.50 billion, representing 110.98% increase over the inflows in Q4 2025, and 54.51% year-on-year growth.
Similarly, investment in bonds also rose to $3.23 billion, reflecting a 63.76% increase over the preceding quarter’s inflows and a 267.67% surge compared to the same quarter in 2025.
However, the report’s data showed that investments in portfolio equities declined on a quarterly basis by 69.56% to $131.81 million but remained 12.34% higher than the value of inflows in Q1 2025.
A further analysis of the report reflected that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows stood at $135.08 million during the review period, representing 62.25% decline quarter-on-quarter and 6.96% year-on-year increase.
The FDI categorization showed that equity investments totaled $120.34 million, dipping by 62.62% quarter-on-quarter and 3.20% year-on-year. Other capital under FDI dropped by 58.87% to $14.74 million, although 645.36% increase compared to the corresponding period of 2025.
Meanwhile, other investments dipped by 37.55% quarter-on-quarter, totaling $374.48 million and representing 20.35% increase on a year-on-year basis.
The report further showed that loans accounted for the bulk of other investments at $364.43 million, down by 32.03% quarter-on-quarter but up by 17.12% year-on-year. Trade credits stood at $10 million, while currency deposits and other claims contributed only marginal value to the capital importation during the quarter
Analysts believe that the strong performance in portfolio investments underscores growing investor appetite for Nigeria’s fixed-income securities and money market instruments following government’s ongoing economic reforms and efforts to stabilize the macroeconomic environment.
