Why FDIs into Nigeria lags – ACCA

The Association of Chartered Certified Accounts (ACCA) has said Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into Nigeria do not increase in recent times because of delays in rending financial statements by many agencies in the public sector. ACCA’s Country Head, Mr. Tom Isibor disclosed this at the practical learning and development programme, themed: “Timely Rendition of Financial […]

The Association of Chartered Certified Accounts (ACCA) has said Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into Nigeria do not increase in recent times because of delays in rending financial statements by many agencies in the public sector.

ACCA’s Country Head, Mr. Tom Isibor disclosed this at the practical learning and development programme, themed: “Timely Rendition of Financial Statements by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)”, which was organised by the ACCA in collaboration with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Thursday in Nasarawa State.

“Delay or non-rendition of financial statements has great implications for Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs) into Nigeria”, Isibor said.

He said: “This is primarily coming from investors – people, individuals, organisations and governments that want to bring money into the Nigerian economy but they want to see how we manage our public accounts and want to see what our spending pattern is before they feel confident and comfortable to bring money into the economy.”

Meanwhile, a total of 120 public institutions comprising government parastatals, agencies and government business entities filed their financial statements with the FRC in 2021.

The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria, Mr. Shuaibu Ahmed who disclosed this at the event described it as modest progress.

Ahmed said the FRC was working with the National Assembly and other relevant agencies to make it a rule that the budget proposals of public sector entities in default of filing their Annual Financial Statements (AFS) of the previous year would not be considered and approved for the coming year.