FDI Recovery Attracts $720m in Q3, 2025

Foreign direct investment into Nigeria jumped to $720m in the third quarter of 2025, up sharply from $90m in the previous quarter.

This represents a 700 per cent increase quarter-on-quarter, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Balance of Payments Highlights for the period.

On a year-on-year basis, the inflow was also higher than the $570m posted in the third quarter of 2024, indicating a 26.3 per cent rise.

The report stated that Direct Investment liabilities, which capture foreign direct investment into the economy, stood at $0.72bn in the third quarter of the year, making it the strongest quarter for FDI so far in 2025.

It said, “Direct Investment into the economy recorded a much higher inflow of $0.72bn in Q3 2025 as against $0.09bn recorded in Q2 2025.” The rebound in FDI contrasts with recent years of weak investor confidence, elevated macro-economic risks and subdued capital inflows.

The central bank data showed that the improvement in the third quarter coincided with firmer external-sector indicators. Nigeria posted an overall balance of payments surplus of $4.60bn, while external reserves rose to $42.77bn as of the end of September 2025 from $37.81bn at the end of June 2025.

The financial account switched to a net lending position of $0.32bn from a net borrowing of $6.90bn in the second quarter, suggesting that the country accumulated more external assets during the period.

However, portfolio investment inflows fell to $2.51bn in the third quarter compared with $5.28bn in the second quarter, indicating that while short-term capital moderated, longer-term equity-type inflows strengthened.