Nigeria attracted about $21 billion in capital inflows between January and October 2025, marking a pointy rise from earlier years and signalling renewed investor confidence within the nation’s financial system, the Minister of Business, Commerce and Funding, Jumoke Oduwole, has stated.
Talking in Abuja whereas presenting her ministry’s efficiency evaluate and 2026 price range estimates to the Joint Home of Representatives Committee on Commerce, the minister stated the surge far exceeded the roughly $12 billion recorded in 2024 and fewer than $4 billion in 2023.
She attributed the advance to reforms launched underneath President Bola Tinubu’s {economic} agenda, alongside focused steps taken by the ministry to make Nigeria extra enticing to buyers.
“Nigeria recorded whole capital importation of roughly $21 billion within the first ten months of 2025. That is the end result of coordinated investor engagements, sector-specific deal rooms, and the decision of over 50 investor bottlenecks,” she stated.
In accordance with her, the ministry assembled over $5 billion value of investment-ready initiatives, launched devoted deal rooms for precedence sectors and convened the nation’s first Home Buyers’ Summit to stimulate native participation. These actions, she famous, helped unblock longstanding regulatory and operational constraints and accelerated challenge supply.
The ministry additionally expanded its worldwide outreach, holding greater than 100 bilateral funding engagements throughout markets such because the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Japan, the US and the UK. Britain, she added, emerged as Nigeria’s dominant overseas investor, accounting for almost 65 per cent of whole inflows final 12 months underneath the Nigeria–UK {Economic} and Commerce Partnership.
Past funding, Nigeria’s commerce place strengthened as properly. The minister reported a commerce surplus, with whole commerce hitting about ₦113 trillion within the first 9 months of 2025. Exports climbed roughly 11 per cent year-on-year to $6.1 billion, the very best degree in each worth and quantity.
“What we’re seeing is the start of sustained structural transformation,” the minister stated.
She stated the federal government’s technique focuses on widening non-oil exports, bettering market entry for native items and strengthening requirements to fulfill world necessities. Particular {Economic} Zones, she famous, are already yielding outcomes, producing greater than $500 million in export income and creating over 20,000 direct jobs.
Regardless of these features, Ms Oduwole cautioned that restricted funding might gradual momentum. She urged lawmakers to rethink the ministry’s proposed ₦2.72 billion capital allocation for 2026, describing it as inadequate to keep up reforms and scale ongoing programmes.
“Given the scope of obligations earlier than us, this allocation might be a stretch. We respectfully search the Committee’s help for focused enhancement of our capital price range,” she appealed.
She defined that whereas earlier appropriations had been largely utilised and revenues exceeded expectations, the 2025 capital price range had not been launched, regardless that the ministry continued to outperform income targets.
Trying forward, the ministry plans to deepen industrial improvement by value-chain enlargement, stronger clusters, broader Particular {Economic} Zones and improved commerce facilitation.
Emphasising a domestic-first strategy, she added, “The emphasis stays Nigeria First, prioritising native production, supporting non-oil exports and deepening home funding.”
Lawmakers pledged cooperation however confused that spending should translate into measurable outcomes. Ahmed Munir, Chairman of the Home Committee on Commerce, stated future allocations would rely upon tangible {economic} impression.
“With the African Continental Free Commerce Space absolutely operational, Nigeria can not afford to be a spectator. Strategic funding in standardisation, certification, digital commerce infrastructure and export readiness is crucial,” he stated.