Nigeria’s FDIs Shrink Amid Drop in Investment Flows to Africa

 Foreign direct investment into Nigeria plunged by a third last year as a severe dollar shortage deterred companies from expanding in Africa’s biggest economy.

Investment fell to $468 million in 2022 from

$698 million a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. FDI has collapsed about 90% from a high of $4.7 billion in 2008, the data shows.

Companies have been exiting Africa’s most-populous nation because of the dollar shortage and restrictions on repatriating funds. Emirates Airlines halted flights to the country in August because it can’t get its money out of the country. The Central Bank of Nigeria is blocking foreign airlines from repatriating at least $744 million, the Lagos-based Punch newspaper reported in March.

South Africa’s Nampak Ltd., the continent’s biggest packaging company, in December said it was planning to quit the West African nation. Others have already exited.