From PUNCH

Some foreign investors are beginning to shun the Nigerian business environment due to concerns about insecurity and the fear of uncertainty regarding the 2015 elections.

The latest investment analysis from the Nigerian Stock Exchange showed that foreign investments dropped significantly by N61.58bn at the end of July.

As of June this year, the total investments by foreign investors stood at N118bn.

The document obtained from the NSE on Friday indicated this amount dropped by N61.58bn or 52 per cent to N56.42bn as of the end of July.

Analysts who spoke to our correspondent attributed part of the reasons for the reduced foreign investments to increasing security concerns as well as tight monetary policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

They said the various activities of the extremist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, as well as the upcoming general elections might have contributed substantially to the reduced investments.

The NSE’s statistics, on the other hand, showed that domestic investors increased their investments in the period under review as the figure rose from N107.51bn in June to N167.77bn in July.

Our correspondent learnt that this was the second time since the beginning of the year that domestic investors had recorded increased investments compared to their foreign counterparts.

The reduction of foreign investments, according to experts, has led to a major depression in the capital market as the NSE’s All-Share Index, which measures the performance of the equities on the Exchange, has recorded significant decline.

The Managing Director, Highcap Securities Limited, Mr. David Adonri, said the reduced investments by the foreign investors, who had before now been driving investment in the NSE, was largely as a result of insecurity and the political risk attached any business initiated in the face of the 2015 elections.

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