Lusaka, Zambia, 5 December 2025 – The COMESA Council of Ministers has launched the COMESA Investment Report 2025 which was developed by the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in collaboration with the COMESA Regional Investment Agency (RIA). This landmark report provides a comprehensive assessment of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) dynamics in the region and presents evidence-based recommendations aligned with the COMESA Medium-Term Strategic Plan 2026–2030.

In 2024, FDI inflows to COMESA rose by 154 per cent to a record USD 65 billion, largely supported by Egypt’s Ras El-Hekma mega-project, but even excluding this project, FDI inflows would still have grown by 16 per cent, confirming a region-wide improvement in investor sentiment. As a result, COMESA’s share in global FDI doubled, rising from 2 to 4 per cent, while its share in developing-economy inflows increased from 3 to 7 per cent, accounting for 67 per cent of total FDI inflows in Africa. This is according to the latest COMESA Investment Report 2025.

The Report also states that European and North American investors hold the largest share of FDI stock in COMESA led by the Netherlands and the United States

A major highlight of the report is the exceptional increase in international project finance (IPF) in COMESA, which nearly doubled to USD79 billion (+93%) and accounted for four-fifths of Africa’s total IPF value. Large-scale renewable energy, grid expansion and construction projects—especially in Egypt, Tunisia, Rwanda and Malawi—were the main contributors.

Greenfield investment also remained strong at USD 77 billion announced in 2024 (second-highest on record) while COMESA captured two-thirds of all greenfield value in Africa. Investment remains highly concentrated despite strong headline growth in five countries—Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, DRC, Kenya—accounted for 90% of inflows.

Intra-COMESA investment remained extremely low at 3% of greenfield project number and 6% of greenfield value.

The report warns that without wider country participation, COMESA’s investment expansion may not translate into broad-based development gains.

Checkout the report on: https://comesaria.org/resources/