Rwanda received about $100m in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in 2006, a world report released on Tuesday has indicated.Rwanda is in the same category with Kenya, South Africa, DR Congo and Zimbabwe. The other East African Community (EAC) states- Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi attracted between $200m and 400m.But the report shows that the FDI inward stocks as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dropped from 14.6 to 12.4 percent. The outward FDI fell from 0.2 to 0.1 percent.The survey, conducted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, indicates that the East African countries recovered from a decline in their FDI inflows as a result of new oil exploration activities in non-traditional producer countries and privatisations.The report shows that FDI inflows to the region rose to about $2bn in 2006 compared with $1bn the previous year. However, the region still ranks low in FDI inflows to Africa.Tanzania had the highest inflows, amounting to $377m most of it due to investment for expansion in the mining industry. FDI into Uganda rose by 19 percent, partly as a result of investments from Australia (Hardman Resources) in the oil industry and from Egypt, India, Kenya, South Africa and the US in services and agro-processing. Kenya’s FDI increased due to large privatisation sales in the telecommunications industry and investments in railways.Ends
