East Africa
Kenyan FDI has record year in 2015
Kenya is now second only to South Africa in the continent ’ s FDI ranking thanks to its best year since fDi Markets records began .
Greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets reports that Kenya attracted 96 projects in 2015 , a 54.84 % increase from 2014 and the highest rate of investment since the monitor began recording data in 2003 . During 2015 , 71 companies invested in Kenya , the highest number of investing companies to date , with a combined capital expenditure of $ 2.55bn .
Job creation in 2015 also saw a sharp
increase of 163.75 % on the previous year , with a particularly strong fourth quarter which increased by 797.02 % compared to quarter four of 2014 . Figures for 2015 surpass those of 2013 , the previous multi-year high in terms of projects won , jobs created and number of investing companies .
Capital expenditure for 2015 , however , remained lower than in 2013 because Kenya received several significant multimillion-dollar investments from companies including India ’ s Delta Corporation , Mauritius-based Liquid Telecom and Nigeria ’ s Dangote
Group . Kenya ’ s FDI resurgence in 2015 is clearer still when compared with the rest of the continent .
Climbing the rankings
Between January 2003 and December 2014 Kenya ranked fifth out of 55 African countries for the number of FDI projects recorded . However , it climbed to second place in 2015 , with only long-time powerhouse South Africa attracting more investment in Africa . During 2015 Kenya managed to attract 12.44 % of the continent ’ s investment , most of which concerned financial services , business services , communications , software and real estate .
The key investing countries in Kenya during 2015 were the UK and US , contributing 16 FDI projects each , followed by India , accounting for 10 projects and South Africa which invested in seven . Nairobi won the lion ’ s share of investment , attracting 54.17 % of all FDI into Kenya between January 2015 and December 2015 , followed by Mombasa with 6.25 %. Data for the first half of 2016 shows a decline in Kenya ’ s FDI compared with the same time period in 2015 . Six companies have so far signalled their interest in future investments in the country , so it remains to be seen whether or not Kenya can sustain its economic growth . - fDi markets
Rwanda ' s economic growth slows to 5.4 pct in Q2
Rwanda ' s economy grew by 5.4 percent in the second quarter of the year , down from an expansion of 7.2 percent in the same period last year , the statistics office said on Tuesday .
The country has had a stellar run in recent years , posting faster growth than other East African economies , but it has been curbed by a weakening of the currency this year , after imports surged . Yusuf Murangwa , the director general of the statistics office , attributed the slower growth to a drop in farm produce exports , a fall in mining output and a 6 percent contraction in the construction sector . " Those three factors are the ones that accumulatively reduced the speed of growth from what we have been seeing around 7 per cent , 6 percent ," he told a news conference .
The Rwandan franc has depreciated 7 percent against the dollar this year . - Rtr
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