Nigeria’s manufacturing sector witnessed an increase in capital importation as inflow into the sector jumped to $861.17 million in the first half of 2023 (H1’23) from $457.66 million recorded in the corresponding period in 2022 (H1’22).
The total importation in the manufacturing sector in the first half of the year ended June 30, 2023, indicated an increase of 88.17% when compared with the figures recorded in the corresponding period in 2022.
A breakdown of the different sectors revealed the sector with the highest inflow during the period was the manufacturing sector followed by the Banking sector which attracted $499.14 million.
Other sectors which also attracted inflows and ranked among the five highest sectors are the Information and Technology Services, Financing, and Shares sectors.
On a Quarter-on-Quarter basis, inflow through the sector increased by 136.2% to $605.04 million in Q2’23 compared to $256.12 million recorded in Q1’22.
An increase in capital importation in the manufacturing sector should normally indicate good tidings in the economy but experts have described it as an exception noting other circumstances may have triggered the changes.
An economic and investment strategist, Ayorinde Akinloye who was surprised by the surge in inflow into the manufacturing sector described it as an outlier.
He stated: “I don’t think there’s a broad economic explanation for what happened. It is likely a situation whereby a major piece of equipment was imported into the sector. You will recall that sometime in 2018, Aliko Dangote imported one piece of equipment for his refinery and that sort of boosted imported capital and foreign trade at that time. That may be what also happened in this case.”
Akinloye also noted the sector may have difficulty maintaining the trend seeing it was an outlier and not a major investment indicator.
The sector has been predicted to make a strong comeback seeing the trend of its success in H1, and H2 2023 as the sector continues to demonstrate a degree of resilience by growing by 1.61% and 2.20 % respectively during the period.