Middle East & Africa FDI 2015-2022

When we take a look at the top 3 MENA startup ecosystems: UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and the top 3 African startup ecosystems: Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa - we see steady FDI growth year on year.

UAE has been the most consistent and fastest growing market in attracting FDI; the UAE attracted $8.6 billion in 2015 and has steadily reached $22.7 billion in 2022.

South Africa had a massive increase in FDI in 2021 with a $40.7 billion injection before leveling out again at $9.2 billion in 2022.

The Central Bank of South Africa attributed much of the 2021 FDI to technology investors acquiring 45% of Naspers.

Nigeria recorded a negative FDI in 2022, much of which has been attributed to ongoing insecurities, energy issues, and election uncertainties all contributing to poor ease of doing business.

Saudi Arabia had a record FDI year in 2021 bringing in $19.3 billion as a result of cross-border mergers and acquisitions and increased project financing.

Egypt has seen increasing FDI peaking at $11.4 billion in 2022, which was the highest volume of FDI into the continent, followed by South Africa.

Egypt’s FDI stood only second behind that of the United Arab Emirates’ $22.7 billion, and ahead of other leading tech markets such as South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.