Foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased by 52% in Morocco over the past year. This is what emerges from the latest report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), on investment in the world 2022.
In its report on investments in the world published by UNCTAD, the UN body indicates that these investments amount to 2.2 billion dollars, or the equivalent of 22 billion dirhams.
Thus, net foreign direct investment amounted to approximately 1.4 billion dollars in 2020, and 1.7 billion dollars in 2019, while in 2018 the pace was denser to reach a record level of 3.5 billions of dollars.
According to the UNCTAD report, 2021 saw the announcement of a major $20 billion international financing agreement for the construction of an undersea cable to bring solar and wind energy from Morocco to the Kingdom. United over a distance of about 3,800 km.
Regionally, Egypt, which ranks first in the region and second on the continent, recorded a 12% decline in foreign direct investment. But the report expects FDI in Egypt to increase in the coming years, thanks to investment pledges from Gulf countries amounting to around $22 billion.
On the Algerian side, the country managed to attract foreign direct investment of around $870 million in 2021, compared to $1.1 billion in 2020, while in Tunisia, foreign direct investment of around 660 million dollars were recorded, the same level as in 2020. In general, the report specifies that FDI inflows fell by 5% in North Africa to reach 9.3 billion dollars.
That said, FDI inflows across the African continent amounted to around $83 billion in 2021, the report said, which is a record compared to 2020, when the continent recorded $39 billion in inflows. FDI which represents 5.2% of foreign direct investment in the world.
Thus, South Africa alone attracted the largest share of foreign direct investment to the continent, with around $42 billion. This represents, according to the report, half of the investments on the continent, following the restructuring of a number of large companies.
Globally, foreign direct investment reached $1.6 trillion in 2021. But this recovery, of around 64%, is not expected to continue in the current year, due to poor vision and lingering uncertainty, the report raises.
Introducing the report, Rebecca Greenspan, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, said there was a huge need to invest in productive capacity, in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Furthermore, the advanced economies have largely benefited from the revival of foreign direct investment, since they have recorded growth of around 134%.
For developing economies, flows increased by 30% to $837 billion. According to the UNCTAD report, this is the highest level ever recorded.
For its part, the United States of America was the first in terms of attracting foreign direct investment, followed by China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, then Brazil, India, South Africa, Russia and Mexico, the report says.
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