News

• Africa attracted about $70 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2025, the third-highest level since 1990.
• Despite a decline from the exceptional level reached in 2024, inflows remained roughly one-third above the continent's long-term average.
• Greenfield project values fell by almost one third, but the number of announced projects increased, pointing to broader engagement through smaller projects.
• Investors from the Gulf and other Asian economies are becoming important sources of greenfield investment, especially in energy, logistics, real estate and infrastructure.
• African least developed countries (LDCs) received about $33 billion in FDI, with inflows concentrated in a few economies linked to natural resources, energy, infrastructure and selected manufacturing projects.
• Energy, infrastructure and critical minerals are drawing investment, but benefits remain concentrated in a limited number of countries and sectors.

• Global foreign direct investment rose 6% to $1.6 trillion in 2025, ending two years of decline.
• The recovery remains fragile and uneven: inflows to developed economies rose 11%, while developing economies recorded only 2% growth, reaching $901 billion.
• Much of the increase reflected a small number of megaprojects, especially in AI-related digital infrastructure.
• The world’s top 20 host economies attracted more than 80% of global FDI, while strategic sectors accounted for 44% of global greenfield project values, up from 16% in 2020.
• FDI remains a major source of external finance for developing economies, but its development impact depends on whether it builds productive capacity, jobs, skills and technology transfer.
• The outlook for 2026 remains clouded by trade policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, conflicts, high financing costs and economic fragmentation.

Closing the digital divide is no longer a side issue. It's central to whether the AI era works for everyone, or just a few.

As AI scales across sectors, robust data governance is needed to ensure shared rules serve the public interest and reflect diverse perspectives.

Strengthening institutions across the region will ultimately determine whether industrial policy delivers productive transformation, resilience and sustainable growth.

At the Türkiye Maritime Summit in Istanbul, senior leaders from the maritime sector discussed how geopolitical tensions, climate-related disruptions and other global crises are reshaping maritime trade and supply chains.

• Digital access is no longer enough.
• The digital economy is expanding fast, but gains remain uneven.
• Practical cooperation will shape the next phase.

• More than 100 days of disruption have left economic aftershocks that may outlast the reopening of the Strait.
• UNCTAD analysis finds 61 vulnerable economies exposed to both oil and cereal import shocks.
• High debt service and declining aid leave many countries with less room to protect households and firms.

• A new UNCTAD report finds that rising borrowing costs are leaving many developing countries with less money to invest in schools, healthcare, infrastructure and climate action.
• Between 2018 and 2024, 99 developing countries – home to 5.5 billion people – saw rising interest payments reduce the fiscal space available for development.
• Developing countries continue to pay significantly more for external financing than developed economies.
• UNCTAD calls for national reforms and stronger international action to reduce financing costs and expand the scale of, and access to, affordable, long-term finance.

• Demand for critical minerals is rising fast.
• Supply remains highly concentrated.
• Trade policy is a strategic tool to increase the gains resulting from trade in critical minerals.
• Developing countries face both opportunity and risk.