Nigeria recorded a 117.04 per cent surge in capital inflows from three BRICS countries — China, India, and South Africa — in the first nine months of 2025, as investors responded to growing portfolio opportunities and sectoral strengths in the economy.
According to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, The PUNCH found that total inflows from the three countries rose to $2.32bn in the first nine months of 2025, up from $1.07bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
The NBS did not provide data for capital imported from Brazil and Russia, which are also BRICS members. A breakdown of the figures showed that South Africa accounted for the largest share, injecting $2.29bn into Nigeria between January and September 2025, compared to $1.02bn in the same period of 2024.
Capital inflows from China stood at $32.24m in the first nine months of 2025, down from $45.22m in 2024, while India’s inflows dipped slightly to $1.46m from $1.59m year-on-year.
The jump in BRICS inflows comes amid strong capital importation from the United States. The PUNCH earlier reported that investors from the United States injected $2.23bn into Nigeria in the first nine months of 2025, representing a 566.02 per cent surge from $334.71m in the corresponding period of 2024, despite renewed tariff tensions linked to President Donald Trump.
Notably, the combined BRICS inflow of $2.32bn slightly exceeded the $2.23bn recorded from the United States within the same period.
In separate interviews with The PUNCH, trade experts explained that the 117 per cent jump in BRICS inflows is simply a business outcome and is not influenced by global politics or trade partnerships.
They noted that the inflows signal growing investor confidence in Nigeria’s financial markets, warning that without structural reforms, the rebound could remain fragile and skewed towards short-term financial instruments rather than productive investment.
The Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, explained that the disparities in inflows reflected sectoral dynamics and investor risk-return considerations rather than politics.
Yusuf said, “Investment or capital importation or capital flow is a function of the opportunities that exist in a particular country. What guides investors is the opportunity that exists and the returns on investment, to the risk of investing in a particular country. Whether it is BRICS or not, a decision is not a political decision. It is a business decision.”
He noted that Nigeria currently attracts more portfolio investment than foreign direct investment due to higher returns and relatively lower risk exposure, stating, “For Nigeria, I think there are better opportunities in portfolio investment than in foreign direct investment because the returns on investment are higher and the risk is also lower.”
In an earlier policy brief, he warned that foreign inflows remain heavily concentrated among a few countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Africa, exposing Nigeria to external policy and liquidity shocks.
He said Nigeria must convert portfolio-driven inflows into FDI-led industrial expansion by accelerating reforms in electricity supply, logistics, regulatory predictability, and contract enforcement.
Meanwhile, a former Chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Export Group, Dr Bamidele Ayemibo, attributed the surge largely to portfolio managers chasing higher yields in Nigeria.
He said, “Investors around the world just want to invest in whatever opportunity is there for them to make money for their clients. It has nothing to do with the trade agreements signed. The people who invest are investing because Nigeria has a higher interest rate, meaning a higher opportunity for them to make money in Nigeria, period.”
Ayemibo maintained that trade partnerships do not automatically translate into capital inflows unless they are tied to infrastructure development or sector-specific commitments that require foreign direct investment.
“If the agreement is tied to infrastructural development or developing a particular sector, then you expect the funds to come in,” Ayemibo said. “But if we don’t do what we agreed to do in terms of enabling the environment, of course, they won’t come in.”
The trade expert also linked strong US inflows to the activities of Nigerian fund managers abroad, noting, “I strongly believe the reason why we are having more from the US is that there are Nigerians in those places and most of them are facilitating it because they understand Nigerian markets.”
He stressed that BRICS membership alone would not guarantee more inflows, stating, “They are not going to bring their money here because you are a member or trying to join BRICS. They will bring it if you have enough places where they can get better profit.”
