Egypt: Most Attractive to FDI in Africa

A study by UK Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has revealed that 66 countries, including 14 African states, are considered a destination for investment and multinational firms.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) affirmed that Egypt is the most attractive for foreign direct investment in Africa during H1 2019.

UNCTAD unveiled that Egypt has attracted FDI flows worth USD3.6 billion. It also mentioned that the FDI flows to Africa registered USD23 billion during 1H 2019, down two percent in the same period in 2018.

Also, a number of new investment deals were unveiled, in the latest report of UNCTAD on global investment approaches. This is seen as an international testimony on the investment climate in Egypt, following the praises it received by the World Bank (WB) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Egypt is capable of attracting more investments, especially with the success of the economic reform program and the progress of the macroeconomics indicators as well as the recent legislative amendments that enhanced the investment climate in the country.

Global FDI flows amounted to USD650 billion in H1 2019, up 24 percent year-on-year. UNCTAD expects investment to cool off as trade tensions mount around the globe.

SCB depended on three basic standards in its study: The vitality of the state’s economy, the development of the necessary materials to support growth average in the future and the diversity of exports.

The aim of the study is to reveal to investors the emerging countries in trade globally. According to the study, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, and Ghana come in an advanced position among the 14 African countries because of their infrastructure and their procedures to enhance the business climate.

According to the WB, the francophone countries in the west of Africa excelled over India thanks to their dynamic growth average that reached 7.8 percent. This concurs with the fast growth of infrastructure in trade.

The WB, in its latest report on Cote d'Ivoire, approved the outcome of the study by SCB. It praised the economic management in the country thanks to maintaining a moderate inflation rate, rationalizing the public spending, adopting reforms and encouraging public-private sectors partnership.

However, SCB’s study warned that if GDP and exports continue to rise as FDI growth remains ‘restricted’ then this would hinder growth possibilities on the short-run.

The third pioneering African country is Ghana, which came third among the 66 countries, thanks to its growth average estimated at 8.5 percent by the WB and at 6.3 percent according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).