From Africa Recovery, Vol.14#3 (October 2000), Briefs page

Modest rise in foreign investments in Africa

The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Africa rose by 28 per cent in 1999, reaching $10 bn, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates in its World Investment Report, released in October. On a global scale, however, this "remained quite modest," representing 5 per cent of total FDI into all developing countries and lagging far behind the $106 bn reported for developing countries in Asia.

Further limiting the impact of this investment was its narrow concentration, with some 70 per cent going to five countries: Angola ($1.8 bn), Egypt ($1.5 bn), Nigeria ($1.4 bn), South Africa ($1.38 bn) and Morocco ($847 mn). Deregulation and privatization drew some funds into telecommunications, but transnational corporations were still primarily focused on oil and minerals. Critics have noted that such investment in the extraction of natural resources, while profitable for the investing corporations, does little to create significant numbers of jobs or promote broader national economic development.

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