COMESA Regional Investment Agency’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Heba Salama said on Sunday that Egypt ranked first among the COMESA countries attractive to direct foreign investments, valued at $7.4 billion in 2017.
Salama added to African Business magazine that Ethiopia ranked second with investments, valued at $3.6 billion. Direct foreign investments to COMESA countries amounted to $18 billion total.
The direct foreign investment inflows to Egypt were the largest, accounting for 42 percent of the total foreign investment directed to Africa in 2017, Salama clarified.
She mentioned that the direct foreign investment inflows declined by 23 percent to $1.43 trillion in 2017, compared to $1.87 trillion in 2016 worldwide.
Meanwhile, the direct foreign investment inflows to Africa declined by 21 percent to $42 billion in 2017.
Salama pointed out that the African Free Trade Agreement has increased investment in Africa, seeking to create a unified market for goods and services and facilitate the free movement of citizens across the African continent.
COMESA contains 20 countries, including Egypt, Kenya, Sudan, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Malawi, Madagascar, Rwanda, Burundi, Comoros, Libya, Seychelles and Tanzania, with total GDP valued at $1.2 trillion.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm.
