The latest figures for Kenyan’s foreign direct investment net flow show a drop of $294 million(Sh31.3 billion). This is according to the annual estimates from the international agency, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD).
In the report on Tuesday, the UN body puts the FDI estimates at $1.33 billion worth of inflows for the year 2019. The figures represent a significant drop of 18.08 percent from the previous year, $1.63 billion(Sh173.15 billion).
From the data, a general decline is expected to be as much as 40 percent of FDI into Africa countries. “As of April 2020, the number of cross-border M&As targeting Africa had declined 72 percent from the monthly average of 2019”, wrote UNCTAD researchers.
Ethiopia continued to dominate with Addis Ababa attracting $2.51 billion(Sh267.93) in FDI Cash amidst the liberalization of critical sectors.
Uganda and Tanzania also made impressive gains with both emerging with increases of 20 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.
As a means to curb Kenya’s drop, Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani dropped investment deduction for hotels and manufacturing plants. Building any of these will now see investors enjoy a 50 percent deduction or a maximum of 150 percent in the first year of use.
