According to the analysis of UN Trade and Development (Unctad), the greatest decline took place in the Asian region with eight percentage points compared to the 2022 balance, while the reduction in Africa as a whole was three percent and one in Latin America and Caribbean.
Globally, FDI registered a two percent decline in 2023, totaling $1.3 trillion, but excluding the impact of some exceptions, there was a steeper decline, exceeding 10 percent for the second year in a row. details the report.
According to Unctad, throughout the year, the estimated value of international project financing operations in African countries fell by 50 percent, to $64 billion, after a 20 percent drop in 2022. .
However, he noted, Africa attracted a growing share of the world’s green megaprojects, six of them valued at more than five billion dollars each.
On that continent, they announced deals worth more than 10 billion dollars in projects for the production of electricity from wind and solar installations in Egypt, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the source illustrated.
The value chains of electric vehicles also attracted foreign investments and among the agreements announced is one to establish a battery manufacturing plant in Morocco worth $6.4 billion, he added.
According to Unctad calculations, the main investors in Africa were the Netherlands, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and China.
However, FDI fell by 12 percent in North Africa, one percent in the Western region; 17, in the central zone, and three, in the central area of the continent, exemplified the United Nations agency, which also corroborated important differences between countries.
In general terms, flows to developing Asia decreased in 2023, but maintained a high figure, amounting to 621 billion dollars, with notable disparities by subregions, the diagnosis reflected.
The evaluation also warned about the global decline in new financing in sectors relevant to the Sustainable Development Goals, which fell more than 10 percent in 2023.
Insufficient financing, UNCTAD stressed, hinders efforts to fulfill the 2030 Agenda, amid growing trade and geopolitical tensions in a context of slowdown in the global economy.
Although the outlook for FDI remains difficult in 2024, the report states that “modest growth appears possible for the full year.”
arc/mjm
