Capital Investment
Building the Future, or Funding the Present?
Why it matters. The share of spending that goes to capital projects — roads, water, clinics, schools — rather than recurrent costs is the clearest signal of investment in the future citizens will live in.
National best (Taraba)
224%
2nd: Zamfara
Lowest: Bayelsa
1%
3rd: Nasarawa
National median
58%
Is better
States scored
31
States unscored
Leading States
Trailing States
The story in the numbers
Some states devote most of their spending to building; others are consumed by recurrent costs. The capital share is where ambition becomes infrastructure — or doesn't. The full report ranks every state.
Inside the full report
Five parts. The whole federation.
The National Ranking
The complete ranking of every state on capital investment, with citizen scores and sample sizes.
Three-Year Trends
How the picture moved across 2024–2026, and the zones improving fastest — and slipping.
The Regional Picture
Where the parameter is strongest and weakest by geopolitical zone, and what explains the pattern.
The Leaders' Playbook
The state initiatives behind the strongest results — verifiable, specific, and adaptable.
What to Do Next
What the evidence means for governments, partners and investors — anchored in global best practice.
A taste of the findings
"Gombe directed roughly two-thirds of its spending to capital projects — and shows in the best-rated roads and hospitals in the country."
The national challenge is recurrent costs crowding out investment; the report shows which states resist that pull.
Where the work remains
The recurrent trap.
Where salaries and overheads absorb the budget, little is left to build — the constraint the report examines, alongside the states that broke free of it.
Read the full parameter report