Capital Importation Hits $21bn as Minister Seeks Higher 2026 Budget
Nigeria’s total capital importation rose to approximately $21 billion in the first 10 months of 2025, representing a significant increase from about $12 billion in 2024 and less than $4 billion in 2023, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, has disclosed.
Oduwole made the revelation while presenting the ministry’s performance highlights during the 2026 budget defence session before the Joint House of Representatives Committee on Commerce in Abuja Wednesday
She described the growth as clear evidence of renewed investor confidence, attributing it to targeted economic reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to the minister, the improvement followed deliberate ministry interventions, including the curation of over $5 billion worth of bankable projects, the establishment of sector-specific deal rooms, and the hosting of Nigeria’s inaugural Domestic Investors’ Summit.
She explained that the initiatives helped re engage domestic capital, unlock financing pipelines, and resolve nearly 50 long-standing investor bottlenecks, accelerating project implementation across key sectors.
Oduwole further disclosed that the ministry carried out over 100 bilateral investment engagements in major global markets such as the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
She noted that sustained engagement through the Nigeria–UK Economic and Trade Partnership, which began in the second quarter of 2024, yielded measurable results, with UK investors accounting for about 65 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign capital inflows in 2025.
On trade performance, the minister revealed that Nigeria recorded a trade surplus in 2025, with total trade valued at about ₦113 trillion in the first three quarters of the year. She said exports grew by about 11 per cent year-on-year to $6.1 billion, the highest level ever recorded in both value and volume.
She added that the ministry intensified efforts to promote non-oil exports, expand market access for Nigerian products, and strengthen quality infrastructure to meet global standards.
Oduwole also highlighted the role of Special Economic Zones, which she said generated over $500 million in export revenue and created more than 20,000 direct jobs, contributing significantly to industrial diversification.
She stressed that beyond attracting investment, the ministry’s strategy focuses on strengthening Nigeria’s productive capacity by linking domestic supply chains to global and regional markets, with emphasis on priority sectors including agro-processing, solid minerals beneficiation, light manufacturing, and digital services.
Despite the positive performance, the minister appealed for an upward review of the ministry’s proposed ₦2.72 billion capital allocation for 2026, warning that the amount would be inadequate to sustain the current investment momentum and execute priority programmes effectively.
Providing a breakdown of past budget performance, Oduwole recalled that in 2024, the ministry received a total appropriation of ₦14.39 billion, with personnel and overhead allocations fully utilised, while 93.2 per cent of the ₦8.36 billion capital allocation was released and fully expended.
She added that revenue performance exceeded target by about ₦154 million, which was fully remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
She further disclosed that in 2025, the ministry’s total appropriation stood at ₦11.80 billion, with personnel and overhead allocations fully utilised, although none of the ₦3.89 billion capital allocation had been released as of the time of reporting.
Nevertheless, revenue performance surpassed its target by approximately ₦100 million, which was fully remitted to government coffers.
Oduwole emphasised that the 2026 budget framework prioritises industrial policy implementation through value chain development, industrial clusters, expansion of Special Economic Zones.
