Egypt Remains Africa’s Largest FDI Recipient –UNCTAD

• Egypt Remains Africa’s Largest FDI Recipient –UNCTAD

The UN Conference on Trade and Development says Egypt remains the top destination of foreign direct investment in Africa.

UNCTAD in its “Investment Trends Monitor H1 2018’’ reports FDI has dropped 41 per cent in the first half of the year to $470 billion.

This was from $794 billion in the same period in 2017.

The report indicates that Egypt remains Africa’s largest recipient of foreign investment. The country experienced an increase of almost a quarter, compared with the first half of 2017.

In Western Africa, the data indicates a 17 per cent fall in investment in the first half of the year, from $5.2 billion to $4.3 billion.

The UN agency’s report, however, suggested the negative trend could be turned around by advances in regional integration, including an African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

The fall in foreign direct investment happened mainly in richer nations, including Ireland (down $81 billion) and Switzerland (down $77 billion).

Developing economies saw FDI flows declining “only slightly” in the first half of the year by four per cent to $310 billion, compared with 2017.

This includes developing Asia, down four per cent to $220 billion, in the same period, driven mostly by a 16 per cent decline in investment in East Asia.

However, China, was the largest recipient of FDI in the first half of 2018, attracting more than $70 billion.