Business
Africa looks East: Case study Kenya
China and India replace Britain as Kenya’s top sources of foreign direct investment FDI
The latest economic data shows that China, India, South Africa, and South Korea have risen to stand among the top five sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) for Kenya, knocking off the UK, Germany and the Netherlands who have occupied the space since independence almost 50 years ago.
The Kenya Investment Authority (KIA) said the change in FDI pecking order deepened in the past couple of years as the majority of developed countries, under the shockwaves of debt crises, cut back on foreign investment while emerging economies scaled up their search for new business opportunities in frontier markets.
In the first six months of this year, China, India, South Africa, and South Korea invested a total of Sh4.4 billion to make four out of five top sources of FDI for Kenya. Kenya Investment Authority data shows that most of the investment went into manufacturing, energy, tourism and construction sectors.
