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Nigeria attracted $8.39bn in foreign direct investment between 2022 and 2025, with the 2025 inflow accounting for almost half of the four-year total.
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UNCTAD said Nigeria’s FDI rose to $4.005bn in 2025, reversing two years of weaker inflows and reflecting increased activity in the oil and gas sector.
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The Federal Government said upstream reforms have unlocked more than $10bn in Final Investment Decisions since 2023, while contracting timelines have been cut by more than half.
September 17, (THEWILL) – Nigeria attracted about $8.39bn in foreign direct investment (FDI) between 2022 and 2025, with inflows rising sharply in 2025 amid renewed activity in the oil and gas sector.
Data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed that Nigeria received $895m in FDI in 2022, $1.873bn in 2023, $1.614bn in 2024 and $4.005bn in 2025.
The 2025 inflow alone accounted for about 48 per cent of the total investment attracted during the four years.
UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2026 said the increase was driven largely by international project-finance transactions in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, including a major project valued at about $2bn. The rebound came after FDI declined by 42 percent in 2024.
Globally, FDI rose six per cent to $1.6tn in 2025, although UNCTAD said the recovery remained concentrated across a relatively small number of economies and sectors. Developing economies recorded only two per cent growth, reaching $901bn.
Oil reforms unlock $10bn FIDs
The increase in investment flows comes alongside renewed activity in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector.
Olu Arowolo Verheijen, Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Energy, said more than $10bn in Final Investment Decisions had been unlocked since 2023 as the government implemented reforms aimed at improving the investment environment.
She disclosed this in her guest lecture at the 13th Olusegun Agagu Memorial Lecture in Lagos, titled “Africa’s Resources, Africa’s Prosperity: Capturing More of the Value We Create.”
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According to Verheijen, contracting timelines in the oil and gas sector have been cut by more than half.
“Capital is not moved by speeches. It is moved by clarity, competitiveness and confidence,” she said, adding that the reforms had helped move stalled projects forward.
The government’s Energy Reforms Framework also stated that more than $10bn in FIDs had followed since 2023, while a much larger upstream investment pipeline exceeding $50bn remains ahead.
Focus shifts to value addition
Verheijen said Nigeria’s investment challenge was no longer simply about attracting capital but ensuring that investment creates more value within the domestic economy.
For years, Nigeria exported crude oil and imported refined petroleum products, limiting the amount of value, jobs and industrial capabilities retained locally.
She pointed to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals as an example of large-scale value addition, arguing that Nigeria must increasingly process its natural resources domestically rather than export raw materials and import higher-value products.
“Our task is not simply to extract more, but to retain more of the value we create and leave our economies stronger than we found them,” she said.
She also stressed that reliable electricity remains essential to industrialisation, saying reforms in metering and the settlement of legacy debts in the power sector are ultimately aimed at creating a more productive economy.
Despite the rebound in investment, Verheijen cautioned that stronger macroeconomic indicators must translate into improvements in household incomes, jobs and living standards.
UNCTAD similarly warned that rising global FDI does not automatically translate into factories, jobs, skills or technology transfer, making the quality and productive impact of investment as important as the headline inflow.
Ogochukwu Onwaeze is a writer specializing in business and economic journalism. At THEWILL News Media, she translates market trends, financial developments, and policy shifts into clear and engaging stories.
