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Egypt has replaced South Africa as the second ranked destination by projects in the continent, experiencing a 60% increase from 85 to 136 projects in 2019, according to a recent report by fDi Intelligence. Egypt was the front runner both in terms of the number of projects and amount invested. The North African country has embarked on massive infrastructure spending in sectors ranging from energy to construction in response to a US$12bn IMF- funded reform program.
South Africa comes second at 123 projects, though it easily outdoes all other African countries in terms of the number of projects it financed outside its own territory last year.
Of the 998 projects financed by foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa last year (2019), Egypt, South Africa, and Morocco were responsible for the largest share.
fDi Intelligence, conducted by Financial Times , found that South Africa invested in 81 projects outside the rainbow nation in 2019 compared to just 29 in Morocco, which is the second country in terms of investment outside Africa. The North African country (Morocco) had 102 projects financed through FDI last year, making it the third largest on the continent. Other countries, which have significant FDI projects are Kenya (87), Nigeria (73), and Ghana (42).
Nigeria and Ghana attracted more FDI by capital investment than South Africa. But the FDI was spread among fewer projects. Ghana entered the top 10 destinations by the number of FDI projects in the Middle East and Africa with a 56% increase on 2018 figures, equivalent to 15 additional projects. The West African country also attracted capital investment growth of 479%, an increase of US$4.8bn in absolute terms.
Projects such as a US$2.8bn production facility being developed by Sweden-based Greenland Resources in Ghana and a US$2bn phosphate fertilizer plant in Togo by the Dangote Group are some of the major investments that were channelized to the continent in 2019. The other notable investment was a US$848m phosphoric acid plant in the New Valley Governorate in Egypt , a joint venture with several Chinese companies and the Egypt-based Phosphate Misr.
