China has invested over $70 billion in Africa over the last five years, making it the continent’s largest investor with 287 projects.
This was disclosed in EY Africa’s Attractiveness Report 2021.
By examining the attractiveness of Africa as an investment destination, the EY Attractiveness Report offers information in support of investment decisions.
Key highlights of the report
- The western world still accounts for nearly ¾ of Africa’s FDI, but with three prominent developing market investors emerging, in 2020, France was the largest FDI investor in Africa by FDI projects, followed by the US, the UK, and China.”
- France and the US were Africa’s largest investors in the last two years measured by FDI projects overtaking China, which had been the largest investor in 2018. But in capital investment, China still leads.
- China was the largest investor in Africa during the five years by jobs and capital, but only third in terms of number of projects. During the period, the country announced large investments in Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
- Russia, though a much smaller investor in terms of projects, brought capital-intensive projects, especially in Egypt’s energy sector.
- Between 2016 and 2020, Russia’s capital investments were the second-highest in Africa, behind China.
- Cross-border investments across Africa have also gained traction over the last five years, with South Africa the largest investor into the rest of the continent. In 2020, the country announced two large-scale projects in Nigeria in the communications sector, worth US$2.5billion, creating around 800 jobs.
- Over the last five years, Morocco attracted large capital inflows, but this slowed in 2020, with FDI investment falling to US$69m after the pandemic’s onset.
- Emerging market investors in Africa are becoming more prominent and accounted for 38% of all projects, with 50% of all jobs created and more than half of the total capital investment between 2016 and 2020.