By Bassey Udo
Nigeria’s capital importation in the first three months of 2026 surged by 83.83%, from $5,642.07m recorded in the corresponding period in 2025, to $10,371.90m.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which announced this in its latest data on the performance of the country’s economy, in terms of total foreign capital inflows to the country, said this was the highest quarterly level attained in recent times.
The NBS said it relied on current data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through commercial bank reporting channels, marking the strongest start to a calendar year for capital inflows since Nigeria embarked on sweeping foreign exchange and macroeconomic reforms in 2023.
The latest data also revealed a sharp quarter-on-quarter surge by 60.97% in Q1 2026, compared to about $6,443.48m recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Analysts say the latest capital importation figures are pointing at an increasing investor appetite for Nigerian assets, with portfolio investments dominating at about 95%.
Details on the composition of inflows showed Portfolio Investment — comprising foreign purchases of stocks, bonds, and money market instruments — ranked top by a commanding margin of about $ 9,862.34m, or 95.09% of total capital imported in the quarter.
Other investments, including loans, trade credits, and currency deposits, followed in second place at $374.48m, or 3.61%, while Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), usually the most structural and job-creating form of capital inflow, recorded the least with $135.08m, or 1.30% of the total.
The dominance of portfolio investment over FDI maintains a familiar pattern that has defined Nigeria’s low capital importation profile in recent years, particularly in the last three years since the current administration under President Bola Tinubu..
Regardless, analysts say Nigerian assets have continued to attract increasing foreign portfolio investment interest, with high yield rates averaging 17%.
Some say the inflows were a reflection of strong foreign confidence in Nigeria’s financial markets, buoyed by prospects of enhanced capacity of the banking sector as a result of the decently concluded recapitalization programme initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Observers say the confidence engendered in the economy by the banking sector reform has given prospective investors the hope that the country possesses the ability to translate the growing interest into tangible productive investment outcomes.
Despite the glimmer of hope, infrastructure has remained a knotty issue, as delays in the execution of capital projects as a result of paucity of funds has continued to slow down the country’s pace to realize its potential as a manufacturing hub.
Investors, particularly those with long-term ambitions, have continued to tread cautiously, wary about the unpredictable future of foreign exchange whose access to support imports and profit repatriation remains a big headache.
A review of the data on sectoral performance showed the Banking sector received the highest volume of foreign capital in Q1 2026, with inflows of $7,550.04m, or 72.79% of the total.
Following closely was the financial sector with $2,429.19m, or 23.42%, while the Production and Manufacturing sector attracted $152.27m, representing 1.47% of the total.
When combined, the banking and financial sectors accounted for over 96% of all capital imported, underscoring the continued concentration of foreign inflows in the financial services over investments in the real sector of the economy.
In terms of countries where the inflows came from, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa were the dominant destinations, with the United Kingdom remaining the single largest source of capital importation, accounting for about 5,083.76m — 49.01% of the total,followed by the United States with $3,183.65m, or 30.69%, and South Africa with $983.83m, or 9.49%.
With the three countries accounting for nearly 89% of all capital imported into Nigeria in the quarter, observers say this reflected the continued reliance on a narrow set of source markets.
In terms of financial institutions that facilitated the inflows, the NBS said Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic IBTC led the pack, with the former as the top recipient of capital importation valued at $4,414.37m, or 42.56% of the total, while the latter followed with $2,778.92m, or 26.79%, and Rand Merchant Bank took the rear with $930.82m, or 8.97%.
Further details showed that Standard Chartered kept its leading position consistent with its performance in recent quarters in which it also topped the chart in Q1 2025 with $2.10b, followed by Stanbic IBTC Bank with $1.40b and Citibank Nigeria Limited with $1.05b.
An analysis of the Q1 2026 data showed that Standard Chartered more than doubled its Q1 2025 receipts, in line with the broader surge in total inflows.
Total capital importation for 2025 stood at about $23.21 billion, an 88.5% increase from $12.31 billion in 2024 .
