South Africa was among the top three countries in terms of foreign investment last year, with Egypt in first place and Morocco in third, the latest investment report by business advisory firm Ernst & Young revealed.
Countries were assessed based on three indicators:
the number of foreign projects;
the total value of investments;
and the number of jobs created as a result of these cash injections.
Let's look at the top three countries in each region of Africa in terms of investment.
Southern Africa
South Africa received around 75% of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the southern region of the continent, as assessed by the number of projects. It had 157 FDI projects, 23% of Africa's total, which is the highest number since 2016. Its $26.8 billion in FDI created about 15,000 jobs — the biggest figure in the region.
Zimbabwe, which ranked second, attracted $5.2 billion in investment, creating about 5,000 jobs. Zambia closes the top three southern leaders with $1.7 billion in FDI and about 2,700 jobs.
North Africa
The leader in this part of the continent in terms of FDI is Egypt ($107 billion), which represents 60% of investments in North Africa. It's followed by Maghreb's Morocco and Tunisia with $15.3 billion and $0.4 billion respectively. The investments created 61,300 jobs in Egypt, 21,100 in Morocco and about 1,700 in Tunisia.
East Africa
Kenya remained the East African leader, becoming "even larger regional FDI hub" with $2 billion of investments in 63 projects and almost 8,000 work places created. Tanzania was not far behind: the country attracted $1.3 billion of FDI, which led to the creation of more than 4,500 jobs. It is noteworthy that despite third place in the ranking, Uganda "saw record high inflows of over US$10b in 2022 — the highest in East Africa — creating more than 6,300 jobs".
West Africa
Nigeria, a longtime leader in the West African FDI market, once again took the top spot. Similar to Kenya, the country attracted $2 billion in investment and created about 3,300 jobs. Ghana ranked second with $1.3 billion in FDI and approximately 2,500 jobs. Finally, Gabon is in third place. It attracted $0.2 billion in investment and created about 100 new jobs.
Central Africa and FSSA
The region received the least FDI in Africa, according to the report. The top three countries in Central Africa and FSSA are Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Côte d'Ivoire, FDI increased by 83% year-over-year and reached about $1.1 billion with 2,600 jobs created. Speaking of Senegal, "FDI more than doubled from the previous year to 14 projects" worth $1.4 billion last year. Investments attracted to Congo amounted to $3.3 billion (6 projects) and about 4,000 jobs were created.
The main foreign investors on the continent were the US ($6.8 billion, 93 projects), France ($26.5 billion, 78 projects), and the UK ($19.2 billion, 64 projects).
Speaking about African investment within the continent, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa were among the top 10 investors with $474 million, $470 million and $701 million of funds injections respectively. The inter-regional investment was enhanced by the infrastructure development in interstate roads, railways, bridges, energy and broadband.