'sentiment Much More Positive' On Nigeria, Says Vc Association

The African Private Venture Capital Association AVCA says that a significantly improved macro environment in Nigeria is prompting stronger interest from international investors in the country as it approaches its annual conference in Lagos in late April.

"When we finished our conference in Johannesburg last year, we announced we were going to Lagos. Some were sceptical as, at that time, Nigeria did not appear to be doing particularly well and was not really attracting many deals," says Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, CEO of the AVCA.

"Cut to the present and most people are absolutely excited. We have macro stability and the sentiment is much more positive. This is the right time to go into Nigeria."

Nigeria has proved to be a challenging environment for investment over the last few years, perhaps most notably because of the devaluation of the naira in the middle of 2023, when the currency was freely floated as part of President Bola Tinubu's economic reforms.

Especially when combined with the severe shortages of hard foreign currency in the country, which made it tricky for investors to repatriate their profits, this made investing in Nigeria too risky a prospect for most to consider. Indeed, foreign direct investment into Nigeria in the first quarter of 2024 stood at just 119.2m - a 35.2 drop from the previous quarter.