Economic and Business News By Leo Odera Omolo
KENYA and Rwanda are the only East African Community member states investing outside their countries in the year 2009.
According to the World Investment Report {WIR 2010] , the two countries fell in the category of economies that has invested less than USD 0.1 billion in 2009.They did so for the past three years.
Kenya, according to the latest WIR report, registered an increase almost five percent of foreign direct investment outflows of USD 46 million last year compared with USD 44 million in 2008. While Rwanda outflows stagnated at USD 14 million
Tanzania Investment Center director Emmanuel Ole Nenkio was last week quoted by the influential weekly, the EASTAFRICAN as saying that hi country didn’t feature in the list” as there are more than enough opportunities to invest internally.”
Though the country did not feature in WIR 2009 –Investment in a low-carbon Economy- there are over ten Tanzanian firms that have invested in Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda and Kenya, though WIR 2010 report named the key investors to Tanzania as South Africa, Mozambique and Kenya, regional integration by access to larger markets, also fostered FDI in general. However, the East Africa bloc registered the lowest FDI outward stock in2009 as its only invested USD 0,1 billion out of ISD 102,2 billion of total Africa’s outward stock.
Southern Africa is leading the continent after investing almost over half of total FDI In 2009 followed by North Africa ‘s USD 20.3 billion, West Africa at USD 11.4 billion, Central Africa at USD 0.9 billion.
Outward FDI declined all Kenya foreign direct investment outflows in 2009 up to only USD 44 million in 2008
The regions, except Southern Africa, where African transnational corporations is said to have kept investing in natural resources and service sectors, mainly in other countries within the region.
Fdi inflows into Tanzania in 2009 were as low as USD 645 million, compared with USD 679 million recorded in 2008.
According to the director of foreign investment in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism Maria Mmari, tourism earned the country USD 1.2 billion in 2009 from 714,307 visitors.
Tanzania’s economy chiefly depend on tourism, mining and agriculture, its telecommunications, energy, manufacturing, financial services and transport sectors are also attracting rising of investors attention.
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