Tanzania is East Africa’s most attractive investment market for the US
Tanzania has emerged as the leading market destination in East Africa to attract investments from the United States, the world’s largest economy.
The details of the market data emerged during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the East African Business Council (EABC) and the Africa Global Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) to lure more investments from the US.
According to the East African Business Council (EABC), the total foreign direct investments from the US to Tanzania rose to $1.5 billion in 2019.
EABC, the apex body of private sector associations and corporates in the East African Community (EAC) region, also revealed that Kenya received the second-highest investment from the US ($353 million), followed by Uganda ($42 million). Rwanda and Burundi rounded the top five list with ($11 million) and ($1million) respectively.
According to The Citizen, the agreement, signed on Wednesday, is set to boost trade and attract more USA investments in the EAC and unlock market access to the U.S.A via the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), environmental and climate change innovations and co-organizing the East African Business and Investment Summit 2022.
In addition, the agreement will further outline several areas of collaboration, including showcasing trade and investment opportunities in the EAC bloc. These include industrial exchange programmes and trade missions to the USA, joint exhibitions and conferences, training programmes and certifications.
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Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr John-Bosco Kalisa, EABC executive director, said the partnership is set to improve joint ventures, production capacities and technology transfers between businesses in East Africa and USA.
John-Bosco also advised the AGCC to mobilise the African diaspora to invest in East Africa in lucrative sectors such as agri-business and digital innovations to support the economic recovery of the continent amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, South African Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), in its recently released report of top 10 investment attractive countries in Africa, identified Egypt as the top continental investment destination followed by Morocco and South Africa.
The report noted that while Egypt’s economy was hard hit by the pandemic, it was also one of the first to bounce back to a path of growth. This, owing to the swift measures it introduced and the fact that it been on a stronger footing at the outbreak of COVID-19.
The report also highlighted that smaller markets like Rwanda and Botswana moved up the rankings from position five and thirteen in 2020 to position four and five, respectively, in the latest index. Tanzania also made the top ten investment destinations list after failing to make the cut in the 2020 and 2019 rankings.
