RIYADH: 海角直播, the UAE, South Africa, Egypt and Qatar were the top five countries that drove foreign direct investment in the Middle East and Africa as the region achieved the largest gain in FDI market share in 2022, a new report revealed.聽聽聽
The Middle East has been the fastest-growing region for FDI since 2019, surging 13.6 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to the new report released by the Investment Monitor, which provides data, insights, and analysis on FDI. 聽
Africa鈥檚 FDI also increased by 17.7 percent in 2022 when compared with the previous year.聽聽聽
However, despite losing global market share, Europe, Asia, and North America continue to be the top three regional markets for FDI, according to the report.聽聽聽聽
Launched on the second day of the Annual Investment Meeting in Abu Dhabi, the report further revealed that digitalization and green energy were at the top of investors鈥 priorities during the year.聽聽聽聽
Major investments in the region include British firm J.O. Steel鈥檚 $865-million integrated billet manufacturing plant in 海角直播, said Glenn Barklie, chief economist at Investment Monitor and head of FDI services at Global Data Media.聽聽聽聽
He disclosed that other investments include India鈥檚 ACME Cleantech鈥檚 $13 billion investment in green hydrogen in Egypt and France鈥檚 TotalEnergies and its partner China National Offshore Oil Corp.鈥檚 $10-billion crude oil production site in Uganda.聽聽聽
Released under the title 鈥淚nvestment Monitor鈥檚 FDI Report 2023: A Focus on the Middle East & Africa,鈥 the report also sheds light on potential opportunities for securing an even larger share of FDI as investors seek green investment.聽聽聽聽
鈥淥n the greenfield side of things, we did see it鈥檚 effectively a lapse in the time frame, so a lot of the growth that we have seen in 2021 and 2022 is a rebound,鈥 Barklie said.聽聽聽聽
鈥淭here are over 1,600 ultimate parent companies that have invested in the Middle East and Africa in 2022,鈥 he added.聽聽聽聽
The chief economist explained that firms tended to focus on only one market, either the Middle East or Africa.聽聽聽聽
Each of the top five countries managed to attract FDI via several sources, stated the report. For instance, while Egypt managed to attract FDI projects through its renewable programs, Qatar attracted FDI as the FIFA World Cup put the gas-rich Gulf nation under the spotlight.聽聽聽聽
On the other hand, 海角直播 attracted FDI as it benefited from opening its borders to tourism.聽
