Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Nigeria fell sharply to US$2.3bn in 2010 from US$5.9bn in 2009, according to the Global Investment Trends Monitor released on January 17th by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The monitor did not explain the dramatic 60.4% drop in FDI to Nigeria, a decrease that was much bigger in scale than the 14.4% contraction in FDI experienced by Africa as whole. The CBN's External Sector Statistics Monitor for the second quarter of 2010 (its latest) ascribed the sharp drop in FDI to the effects of the global financial crisis on Nigeria's trading partners. Unsurprisingly, critics of President Jonathan's administration view the fall differently, presenting it as evidence of international investors' diminished confidence in the Nigerian government's economic management. For instance, former CBN governor, Chukwuma Soludo, said that the UNCTAD report showed that Nigeria's FDI performance was the worst in many years and is indicative of the current poor state of the economy. He argued that the decline in investment should be interpreted as international investors sending a strong message to the Nigerian government that it needs to get its act together. His comments were published in the local press at the end of January in response to a reported comment by the minister of finance, Olusegun Aganga, insinuating that Mr Soludo was to blame for Nigeria's banking crises. The good news for Nigeria is that although FDI slumped last year, inflows of foreign portfolio investment into the country rose considerably. The Nigeria Stock Exchange data statistics indicate that foreign portfolio inflows rose to N350bn (US$2.3bn) in 2010 from around N229bn in 2009, while net foreign portfolio inflow increased to N171bn in 2010 from N33.4bn recorded in 2009.