Twelve African markets for UAE investors, compared

Egypt drew more foreign direct investment (FDI) than any other African country in 2025, and UAE capital is reshaping its coast and ports.

Why investors look at it

UNCTAD counted about USD 15 billion of FDI into Egypt in 2025, and the IMF projected growth of 4.24% for 2026 in April 2026. The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) anchors logistics and green hydrogen projects.

In March 2024 the central bank floated the pound, which fell from about 31 to more than 50 per US dollar within hours. The IMF then raised its loan from USD 3 billion to USD 8 billion.

Links with the UAE

Bilateral trade reached about USD 9.7 billion in 2025, up 61.7%, and more than 1,800 Emirati companies operate in Egypt, according to the UAE embassy in Cairo. The ADQ-led Ras El Hekma deal of February 2024 is worth USD 35 billion, including USD 11 billion of converted UAE deposits. AD Ports Group signed a 50-year agreement for the KEZAD East Port Said zone in May 2025, and Sokhna was among DP World’s first African investments.

Watch-outs

• Currency: the pound now floats, so revenue earned in pounds carries the full exchange-rate risk
• Debt: Fitch expects general government debt to fall to 77% of GDP by fiscal year 2027

Morocco is an export platform built on Tanger Med and Africa’s largest vehicle industry, and the UAE ranks among its top foreign investors.

Why investors look at it

The Investment Charter of December 2022 offers tiered grants, regional one-stop shops and a guaranteed transfer of profits and capital. Since March 2023 the state has approved 238 investment agreements worth MAD 344 billion, according to law firm Al Tamimi.

Tanger Med is the largest port in Africa and the Mediterranean by capacity. Growth estimates for 2026 differ: Al Tamimi gives 4.4%, while the IMF projected 4.87% in April 2026.

Links with the UAE

AGBI put the UAE’s investment stock at about USD 14 billion in December 2023, second among foreign investors. Economy Middle East reported more than USD 15 billion in July 2024. Non-oil trade was smaller, at USD 1.3 billion in 2023. A December 2023 partnership declaration signed by King Mohammed VI and President Mohamed bin Zayed covers high-speed rail, water, ports, phosphates and the Morocco–Nigeria gas pipeline. Telecom group e& has controlled Maroc Telecom since 2014, and Dubai Chambers sent a trade mission to Morocco in 2024.

Watch-outs

• CEPA status: Gulf Business lists the CEPA as signed and pending ratification, but a February 2026 UAE list of African CEPAs leaves Morocco out
• Currency: Al Tamimi flags the gradual move to a more flexible dirham as a contract and currency risk

Kenya led Africa’s startup funding in 2025 and signed a CEPA with the UAE in January 2025.

Why investors look at it

Kenyan startups raised USD 1.04 billion in 2025, the most in Africa, according to Partech. The IMF projects 4.47% growth for 2026, and FDI reached USD 3.2 billion in 2025.

The shilling has held a band of KSh 129–130 per US dollar for about a year. Reserves reached USD 13.2 billion, or 5.6 months of imports, in June 2026.

Links with the UAE

Non-oil trade with the UAE reached USD 3.1 billion in the first nine months of 2024, up 29.1%. The CEPA was signed in Abu Dhabi on 14 January 2025, and Kenyan ratification was under way in January 2026. In May 2024 G42 and Microsoft announced USD 1 billion for a geothermal-powered data center in Kenya; its current status is unconfirmed.

Watch-outs

• Debt: public debt is about 74.8% of GDP, and the IMF rates Kenya at high risk of debt distress
• FATF: Kenya remained on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025, so expect closer bank checks
• Politics: the 2024 tax package was shelved after protests, and elections are due in 2027

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous market, and its currency and subsidy reforms since 2023 have changed the terms for foreign capital.

Why investors look at it

Since 2023 Nigeria has scrapped its fuel subsidy and liberalized the naira. The gap between official and parallel rates narrowed from more than 60% to under 5%. It left the FATF grey list on 24 October 2025.

FDI was about USD 4 billion in 2025. Free zones include the Lagos Free Zone, linked to Lekki Deep Sea Port, and Nigeria holds 26% of Africa’s outstanding sukuk, the Sharia-compliant certificates, according to Fitch.

Links with the UAE

Non-oil trade with the UAE reached about USD 5 billion in 2025. The CEPA signed on 13 January 2026 will make about 7,000 Nigerian products duty-free once in force. Dubai International Chamber opened a Lagos office in November 2023, and Etihad was due to start Abuja flights in 2026.

Watch-outs

• Cost of living: the reforms raised inflation and cost-of-living pressure on households
• Treaty cover: neither the CEPA nor the 2016 BIT was in force at the time of writing

Ethiopia topped the IMF’s April 2026 growth projections for Africa and is opening banking and foreign exchange after decades of restrictions.

Why investors look at it

The African Development Bank (AfDB) recorded 9.8% growth in 2025, and the IMF projected 9.2% for 2026. FDI reached USD 3.79 billion in 2025.

In July 2024 the central bank moved to a market-based exchange rate under a USD 3.4 billion IMF program. Firms in special economic zones (SEZs) now keep all their foreign exchange, and a December 2024 law opened banking to foreign banks.

Links with the UAE

The UAE–Ethiopia BIT has been in force since 2021, and Dubai Chambers has had an office in Ethiopia since at least 2016. UAE banks were reported among the lenders interested in the new licenses, but our research found no recent headline UAE pledge.

Watch-outs

• Disputes: Ethiopia is not a member of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
• Currency and debt: the birr has lost about a third of its value since the float, and about USD 8.4 billion of debt is being restructured
• Bank stakes: sources give 40% or 49% as the cap on foreign stakes in local banks; check the law first

DP World runs about two-thirds of Dar es Salaam port, and a 2025 law rebuilt Tanzania’s investment regime around a single agency.

Why investors look at it

The IMF projects 5.9% growth for 2026, among Africa’s ten fastest. Tanzania was one of eight pioneers of the Guided Trade Initiative under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

A February 2025 law merged two agencies into TISEZA, a one-stop shop. It guarantees repatriation of profits and dividends and bars nationalization without fair compensation.

Links with the UAE

DP World signed a 30-year agreement in October 2023 to run about two-thirds of Dar es Salaam port, with an initial investment above USD 250 million. In 2024 a venture 30% owned by AD Ports Group bought 95% of TICTS, operator of Container Terminal 2. The two countries signed a DTA in September 2022, renewing ties that date back to Oman’s rule over Zanzibar.

Watch-outs

• Treaty cover: UNCTAD lists no UAE–Tanzania BIT, while law firm Clyde & Co names one; confirm before you rely on it
• Data gaps: no recent currency or debt figures appear in the sources, so ask your bank

Senegal is where DP World made one of its first African investments and is building a new deep-water port, while a 2025 debt revision shapes the outlook.

Why investors look at it

Growth reached 6.7% in 2025 but only 2.2% outside hydrocarbons, and the IMF projected 2.17% for 2026 in April 2026. Most of the 2025 gain therefore came from oil and gas.

As an OHADA member, Senegal shares company, security and insolvency law with 16 other states. It also issued the first sovereign sukuk in the West African Economic and Monetary Union in 2014.

Links with the UAE

DP World has operated at Dakar since 2008. In 2020 it agreed to build Ndayane, a port about 50 km away designed for 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) a year. Non-oil trade with the UAE was about USD 1.3 billion in 2025, up 24.5%. Dubai Chambers sent a trade mission in 2024, and the two countries co-host the UN Water Conference in December 2026.

Watch-outs

• Hidden debt: in March 2025 the IMF confirmed up to USD 7 billion of concealed debt, lifting debt from about 70% of GDP to nearly 100%
• Debt treatment: a USD 2.2 billion IMF facility reached staff level in September 2026, and the authorities plan to seek “debt treatment”
• Treaty gap: the 2015 BIT is signed but not in force

Côte d’Ivoire combines one of the fastest growth rates in this group with the seat of OHADA’s arbitration court in Abidjan.

Why investors look at it

The IMF projects 6.2% growth for 2026, seventh in Africa. Abidjan hosts OHADA’s Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA), a natural forum for contracts under OHADA law.

The country has also used Islamic finance. Its debut sovereign sukuk of CFA 150 billion (about USD 244 million) closed in December 2015, and investors from the Middle East took 38%.

Links with the UAE

The UAE–Côte d’Ivoire BIT has been in force since 2023. Dubai International Chamber’s “New Horizons” trade mission visited Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire in November 2023.

Watch-outs

• FATF: Côte d’Ivoire was on the FATF grey list after the October 2025 plenary
• No CEPA: no trade agreement with the UAE is reported, and no bilateral trade figure was found

Rwanda is a small, fast-growing market that already has both an investment treaty and a tax treaty in force with the UAE.

Why investors look at it

The AfDB recorded 7.5% growth in 2025, and the IMF projects 7.2% for 2026. FDI reached USD 967 million in 2025.

Rwanda’s offer rests on zones and regional trade rather than domestic scale. It runs the Kigali and Bugesera SEZs and was a Guided Trade Initiative pioneer.

Links with the UAE

In July 2026 the UAE listed Rwanda among the CEPAs in final negotiation, with Ghana and Zambia. DP World is listed as operator of an inland port in Kigali.

Watch-outs

• Market size: with GDP of USD 18.7 billion, most projects need regional sales to reach scale
• CEPA timing: tariff cuts start only once the CEPA is signed and in force

Ghana has moved from its 2022 debt crisis to one of the region’s faster growth rates, and its trade with Dubai rose 60.1% in 2025.

Why investors look at it

The IMF’s October 2026 update projects 5.7% growth for 2026, among sub-Saharan Africa’s ten fastest, with inflation of 4.8%. Ghana was also a Guided Trade Initiative pioneer.

The recovery rests on a USD 3.2 billion IMF program agreed in May 2023. The cedi appreciated markedly in the first half of 2025, and the policy rate fell 650 basis points to 21.5%.

Links with the UAE

Dubai’s own non-oil trade with Ghana reached AED 39.6 billion in 2025, and 225 Ghanaian companies were Dubai Chamber members in early 2026. Dubai Chambers has had an office in Ghana since at least 2016, and its May 2026 mission held 276 meetings in Accra.

Watch-outs

• Debt: talks with commercial creditors under the G20 Common Framework were still open in October 2025
• Treaty cover: UNCTAD lists no UAE–Ghana BIT, so protection rests on contracts and structure

South Africa is Africa’s largest economy and the UAE’s second-largest trading partner on the continent, but growth is slow and treaty cover thin.

Why investors look at it

South Africa holds 82.9% of the world’s platinum group metal reserves, according to US Geological Survey data for 2026. UNCTAD names it among countries attracting hydrogen, logistics and renewables investment.

It left the FATF grey list on 24 October 2025. It also holds 15% of Africa’s outstanding sukuk, according to Fitch.

Links with the UAE

Trade with the UAE reached USD 8.5 billion in 2024, up 14%. DP World bought Imperial Logistics for up to USD 887 million, and the two governments agreed in late 2025 or early 2026 to start CEPA talks.

Watch-outs

• Growth: the IMF projected 1.05% growth for 2026 in April 2026
• Investment flows: net disinvestment reached about USD 2.3 billion in 2025
• Disputes: South Africa is not an ICSID member and has no UAE BIT

Angola has signed a CEPA, hosts Dubai’s newest chamber office in Africa and has joined both main arbitration conventions since 2017.

Why investors look at it

Angola left the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in December 2023 after a quota dispute, with output below 1 million barrels a day. The IMF projects 2.29% growth for 2026.

Its legal framework has moved toward international practice. Angola joined the New York Convention on arbitral awards in March 2017 and ICSID in October 2022.

Links with the UAE

AD Ports Group won a 20-year concession for Luanda’s multipurpose terminal in April 2024, with up to USD 379 million planned over the term. Dubai’s non-oil trade with Angola reached AED 11.6 billion in 2025, and Dubai International Chamber opened its eighth African office in Luanda on 22 July 2026.

Watch-outs

• FATF: Angola was on the FATF grey list after the October 2025 plenary
• Oil dependence: the economy still depends on oil, so plan for swings in output and prices

Eight more markets carry UAE agreements, ports or projects that matter when investing in Africa beyond the twelve profiles.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has had a CEPA in force since 30 October 2026. Its non-oil trade with the UAE reached USD 3.5 billion in 2025. DP World is building Banana, the country’s first deep-water port, and International Resources Holding (IRH) took control of the Bisie tin mine in 2025.

Mauritius has had a CEPA in force since 1 April 2025. It gives preferential treatment to more than 97% of UAE imports from Mauritius and 99% of Mauritian imports from the UAE.

Zambia hosts IRH’s 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines, completed in March 2024. In September 2026 state miner ZCCM-IH alleged a USD 61 million funding shortfall and threatened arbitration; IRH denied any rift. A Zambian CEPA is in final negotiation.

Somaliland and Somalia matter through Berbera. DP World’s 30-year concession there began in 2017 with up to USD 442 million of investment, and expansion lifts capacity to 500,000 TEU. Somaliland’s international status is disputed, so check how contracts and insurance treat it; DP World also lists Bosaso in Somalia.

Mozambique drew about USD 6 billion of FDI in 2025, third in Africa, and left the FATF grey list in October 2025. Dubai Chambers has had a Maputo office since 2016.

Mauritania hosts an initial agreement between Infinity Power and Conjuncta for up to 10 GW of green hydrogen electrolysis near Nouakchott, with a first 400 MW phase by 2028. Its BIT with the UAE has been in force since 2016.

Benin announced a CEPA on 25 October 2026, after non-oil trade rose 65% to USD 2.15 billion in 2025. It holds 7% of Africa’s outstanding sukuk.

Gabon signed a CEPA on 6 February 2026 and has had a DTA with the UAE in force since February 2023. It applies OHADA business law.