Mauritius is giving Britain, US and Japan a run for their money after emerging as a top source of foreign investment into Kenya, beating all other African nations, fresh government data shows.

Foreign Investment Survey 2020 by Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the tiny island on the South East of Africa beat South Africa to third position after Britain and the US, as a major source of investments into Kenya.

Mauritius’ stock of investments into Kenya, it adds, increased by 11 per cent in 2019 to Sh195 billion last year.

“Mauritius and South Africa were the leading sources of foreign liabilities within the region and accounted for 11 per cent and 9.8 per cent of total stock of foreign liabilities in 2019, respectively,” says the report released last week.

Investments from Mauritius were largely in information and communication; agriculture; finance and insurance; and real estate activities.

With Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and Financial Services Commission (FSC) Mauritius having signed a deal last month to strengthen technical co-operation between the two capital market regulators last month, things can only look up for the island nation.

According to CMA chief executive Wyckliffe Shamiah, the co-operation will reinforce cross-border co-operation between both regulatory authorities.

“The partnership with FSC is underpinned by our strategic objective of enhancing strategic influence by partnering with peer regulators in Africa and beyond for mutual benefit,” he said.

The KNBS report notes that investments from South Africa were mainly in finance, insurance and information and communication activities.

“Africa was the second largest source of investment, accounting for 27.3 per cent and 27.2 per cent of total stock of foreign liabilities in 2018 and 2019, respectively,” says KNBS.

Foreign liabilities

Foreign liabilities attributed to Africa increased by 7.4 per cent from Sh450.38 billion in 2018 to Sh483.65 billion in 2019.

Europe was the leading source of investment accounting  for  28.1 per cent and 28.5 per cent of total stock of foreign liabilities in 2018 and 2019, respectively. 

Investments from Europe increased by 9.7 per cent to Sh 507.12 billion in 2019. 

The United Kingdom, France and Netherlands were the leading sources of foreign liabilities within the European Union accounting for 13.5, 5.2 and 3.0 per cent of the total stock of foreign liabilities, respectively, in 2019.  

Investments from the UK were mainly in the finance and insurance; manufacturing; and transportation and storage activities.

The stock of foreign investments attributable to America increased from Sh 197.78 billion in 2018 to Sh203.69 billion in 2019, reflecting a growth of 3.0 per cent. 

“The US remained the dominant source of investment from this region accounting for 11.1 per cent and 10.3 per cent of total foreign liabilities in 2018 and 2019, respectively,” says the report.

Investments from the United States were mainly in transportation and storage; and finance and insurance activities.