LUSAKA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) recorded a 154-percent rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2024, according to a new report.
The report, released Thursday by the COMESA Council of Ministers and developed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in collaboration with the COMESA Regional Investment Agency, said the regional bloc recorded 65 billion U.S. dollars in FDI.
According to the report, COMESA's share in global FDI doubled, rising from two to four percent, while its share in developing-economy inflows increased from three to seven percent, accounting for 67 percent of total FDI inflows in Africa.
While attributing the increase to Egypt's massive Ras El-Hekma project, a venture to build a new city on the Ras El-Hekma peninsula, the report noted that FDI would still have grown by 16 percent, excluding the Egyptian project.
The report further highlighted an exceptional increase in international project finance in COMESA, which nearly doubled to 79 billion dollars and accounted for four-fifths of Africa's total international project finance.
According to the report, greenfield investment also remained strong at 77 billion dollars.
The report, however, noted that investment remains highly concentrated despite strong headline growth in five countries, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, accounting for 90 percent of inflows. ■