CAIRO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Robust Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Egypt continues to boost inflows to North Africa, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said on Monday.
According to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2017, the FDI flows into North Africa rose by 11 percent from 2015 to 2016, to 14.5 billion U.S. dollars, driven by foreign investment reforms and new gas discoveries.
The report said, much of the growth was due to investments in Egypt, where FDI inflows increased by 17 percent to 8.1 billion U.S. dollars.
"The discovery by Shell (Netherlands) of gas reserves in Egypt's Western Desert continued to drive investment in the country's hydrocarbons sector," according to the report.
This makes Egypt fourth most attractive African destination for investors after Angola, Nigeria and South Africa, the report said.
As a proactive participant in North Africa, Egypt's economy benefited from China's Belt and Road Initiative as the two countries are undertaking a number of cooperative projects, including the establishment of an economic area in the Suez Canal Zone and investments in maritime and land transport facilities, according to UNCTAD's report.
Egypt has been suffering an economic recession over the past few years due to political instability and relevant security issues that led to the decline of tourism, foreign currency reserves and foreign investment.
The country pins hope on its economic reform program and the recently approved investment law to attract more foreign investment and boost its economy, especially that the new law offers massive tax incentives to investors.
