A financial governance expert has urged Nigeria to prioritise long-term foreign direct investment (FDI) over short-term speculative inflows, following recent commentary on Arise News about the country’s rising investment numbers.
Speaking after watching Arise News’ BusinessWeek programme, Ify Umunnakwe-Okeke, Chairman of the Risk Management and Corporate Strategy Committee at Veritas Glanvills Pension Fund, noted that much of the excitement surrounding Nigeria’s latest investment uptick may be misplaced.
According to analysts featured on the programme, the bulk of the new inflows appears to be “hot money”—short-term capital that typically targets undervalued sovereign debt and can exit the economy as quickly as it arrives. Umunnakwe-Okeke argued that such inflows offer limited benefit to Nigeria’s long-term economic prospects.
“There is very little to celebrate about ‘hot money’,” she said, emphasising that Nigeria should instead be aiming to attract FDI into productive sectors of the economy. “Real-sector FDI drives economic growth, boosts employment, increases consumer spending, and raises government revenue through taxes.”
She noted that the federal government’s current fundraising efforts are largely directed at servicing existing debt and plugging budget deficits, with minimal direct impact on economic expansion.
Umunnakwe-Okeke warned that Nigeria still faces significant barriers to attracting sustained, high-quality investment. Rising insecurity and a growing exodus of skilled labour, she said, have further complicated the landscape for investors.
Calling for structural reforms, she stressed the need for a clear national roadmap for development, adding that judicial independence must feature prominently in any long-term strategy aimed at rebuilding investor confidence and securing meaningful FDI.
“Nigeria has a lot of work to do on this front,” she said. “We must have the courage and determination to implement a roadmap to sustained development.”
