The Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) has uncovered that three MENA counties managed to solely move the needle on property investment in 2019, led by Egypt by a significant margin at USD 7.1 bn (EGP 113.7 bn), Invest-Gate reports.

The North African nation is followed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia at USD 1.3 bn (EGP 20.8 bn) and USD 600 mn (EGP 9.6 bn), respectively, according to Dhaman’s latest report on July 5, titled “Investment Climat in Arab Countries 2020.”

Better yet, Egypt attracted USD 13.7 bn (EGP 219.5 bn) worth of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in 2019, putting it atop the MENA region league table, the research paper revealed.

FDI inflows to Egypt tallied 23% of total netted by MENA nations and was up 7% from 2018. The country also topped the chart of average value per investment at USD 98 mn (EGP 1.6 bn) and logged the highest average number of jobs created per project at 180 jobs, it further stated.

Based on the study, the UAE ranked first in the region in terms of the number of projects, as the Gulf country saw 445 developments in 2019, followed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia with 140 and 134 projects, separately.

Such figures are much higher than those put out by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) late last month. According to its “Global Investment Trends Monitor 2019” report, Egypt continues to be Africa’s largest recipient of FDI flows in 2019, marking a 10.7% hike, registering USD 9 bn (EGP 145.4 bn) in foreign investments last year.

“FDI inflows to North Africa decreased by 11% to USD 14 bn (EGP 226.2 bn), with reduced inflows in all countries except Egypt,” read the study, highlighting that economic reforms undertaken by the Egyptian government have improved macroeconomic stability and boosted investor confidence in the country.