fDi Intelligence

Our preliminary data for the whole of 2024 is out. Here's three standout industries driving global investment ↓ Foreign direct investment (FDI) around the world last year was propelled by large, capital intensive projects in critical infrastructure and capacity needed for a more digitalised and lower carbon economy. Mega FDI projects – those valued at $1bn or more – remain at historically high levels. These massive investments were found across the top three sectors – renewable energy, communications and semiconductors. But there were some notable declines in investment commitments across other major industries (follow link in comments for the full analysis). Any thoughts ⁉️ Leave them below or direct message me 💬 #fdi #data #investment #renewableenergy #semiconductors #datacentres

The past few weeks have removed any shadow of a doubt that business leaders need to buckle up for a potentially volatile period of #geopolitics. 🌐 The only way to navigate this, is with a finely-tuned geopolitical radar through which companies can assess policy developments in real time, argues Simon Evenett in his latest op-ed. 🌐 "Ten years from now, we’ll know which companies best navigated geopolitics. And the hunt will be on for enduring lessons," he writes. 🌐 Drawing on interviews with multinationals, he explains their geopolitical strategies and the early payoffs. See Simon's full op-ed here 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/gYgq8ZuK 🗨️ Have Your Say: How are you, or your clients, tracking geopolitical risks? Tell us in the comments 👇🏽 #FDI IMD Global Trade Alert

Another whirlwind few days at the Oval Office with #Trump slapping 25% #tariffs on Canada and Mexico, #Canada threatening retaliation with an equal hike on US imports, before it and #Mexico cut a last minute deal with the White House to delay the start-date til early March. 🇨🇦 Is this the start of North America's #nearshoring story unravelling under Trump 2.0? Some say he was open to #friendshoring in his first term — with his real priority hitting China — but he is now focused on #reshoring and getting investment in US borders. 🇲🇽 Yesterday's 30-day reprieve shows Trump is using import duties as a bargaining tool, and that firms will (wisely) hold off making tariff-induced investment decisions until the dust settles. 🇺🇸 Once that happens, opinion is divided over the extent we'll see tariff-jumping into the US. Some say it will "soar", while others note that the shortcomings that drove US firms abroad in the first place still exist back home... And yes, that's without even getting into the US-China tit-for-tat tariffs that are still happening.... Full story by Danielle Myles here 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/gSbxQKa7 With insights from Abishur Prakash, Mark O'Connell of OCO Global, Jonathan Samford, Harry Moser, Henry Loewendahl, PhD and Diego Marroquin.

Will Trump's early attacks on green funding and climate policy derail the US's #cleantech boom? ⚡ Some foreign firms have halted their clean energy projects since the election, and advisors have been inundated with queries about their outstanding #IRA grants and loans since the president's executive order blitz. ⚡ Companies tell me they're pausing parts of projects until they have greater certainty over the future of IRA funding under #Trump. ⚡ Developers are looking to restructure projects to better align with the new administration's energy goals, and turning their attention to less 'clean' technologies like blue hydrogen and nuclear. ⚡ The most vulnerable are small-scale investors with early-stage projects reliant on government funding, which at the least are having to push back timelines. Full story for fDi Intelligence here 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/geexhrbY Thank you to Emily Brown Easley, Sean Riddick, CAIA, Gareth Hagan, Tracey Hyatt Bosman, Robert Kaineg, Martin Pochtaruk, Deanna Reitman, Woodside Energy and Prysmian for their input.

Today US EV pioneer Tesla reports its full-year 2024 results. Its challenges in China are a lesson for the Western car industry Initial impressions can be deceiving. Tesla's sales of battery EVs in China grew last year, but at a slower rate than the overall market. The end result is Tesla has a declining market share in China, its second largest market after the US. Tesla's global vehicle deliveries fell globally by 1.1% in 2024 due to much weaker-than-expected demand in Europe and North America. Intense competition in China from homegrown giants like BYD is putting pressure on the whole western auto industry. The response of Tesla will be telling. What do you think ❓ Let me know in comments 💬 https://lnkd.in/ejMbyTUs #data #ev #tesla #byd #electric #vehicles #automotive #china #competition #earnings

They say "Panama is the bridge of the world and the heart of the universe". Ambitious, the latter. The former? A fact. Mr Trump now wants to "take back" that bridge of global trade – the Panama Canal. In particular, his remarks about China mark a major shift in the way his administration intends to relate to countries in the region. 🔴 National security takes precedence over anything else. Now forth, free trade and investment, multilateralism, reciprocity, it all has to be filtered through the lens of national security. 🇨🇳 Under the suspicious, but innocuous watch of Trump 1.0 Chinese diplomats and businessmen roamed freely around Panama and Latam, securing major influence and deals. By the look of things, that season is over. ⚖️ This leaves countries like Panama, Colombia etc in front of a binary security option: either with Trump or face his wrath in the form of trade and investment coercion. New secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to relay this message in Panama City later this week. I articulated it all in the piece below 👇 Grateful to the many that helped me get a better understanding of the reach of this major shift in US foreign policy in the region – Nehemías José Jaén Celada (哈恩), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México's Enrique Dussel Peters, Ámbar Ruiz Chaperón, The George Washington University's Noel Maurer and Verisk Arantza A. #FDI https://lnkd.in/eaXv5UgF

Earlier this month, Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third term as #Venezuela's president following last year's fraudulent elections. 🇻🇪 In an economy crippled by sanctions and mismanagement, which has sent citizens and companies fleeing abroad, six more years of the #chavismo regime seems little to celebrate. 🇻🇪 But as Aperio Intelligence's Luis L. writes, some little-noticed aspects of the election suggests #Maduro is losing his social base and is leading a regime doomed to fail. Check out his full op-ed here 👉🏽https://lnkd.in/gB2BRyRS Take a read and tell us in the comments if you also see hope for change in Venezuela 👇🏽

Greece's sovereign wealth fund is targeting April for the launch of its new fund to attract more #FDI to the country, its CEO Gregory D. Dimitriadis tells me. 🇬🇷 Growthfund is becoming the latest #SWF to launch a catalyser fund that derisks local projects for foreign firms by providing some government skin-in-the-game. 🇬🇷 The €303.5m seed capital is small compared to its peers, but "we’re building something which is going to be much larger" he says, with talks already underway to expand its AUM. See the full story for fDi Intelligence here 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/gAN-amuz Growthfund, the National Fund of Greece #sovereignwealthfund #Greece

Strong take by Abishur Prakash on the role that geopolitics is playing in reshaping the global investment map. "Businesses are basing major operational decisions not on profits but on politics," he argues. Explore his argument and the 10 main geopolitical risks he expects for 2025 in the piece below 👇 #FDI https://lnkd.in/g8zv8JWE

🌍 Africa relies more on investment from its own backyard than any other developing region ↓ 📈 Intra-regional foreign direct investment (FDI) within sub-Saharan Africa has risen in recent years. But initial impressions can be deceiving. Data shows that Africa has become more reliant on FDI from its own backyard as inward FDI flows from outside the continent have declined. Several Western multinationals have opted to divest from the region as part of their global restructuring. Even as African firms seek growth opportunities across the continent, more needs to be done to attract FDI from other regions: https://lnkd.in/eDk5XZMV Thanks to Dirk Willem te Velde and Yohannes A. at ODI Global, Edward Porter at Africa Finance Corporation, Matthew Ferreira and Emmanuel Balogun at Africa Practice for their help and expert insights. ❓What do you think❓ Let me know in the comments 💬 #fdi #africa #afcfta #intra #regional #investment #development #econdev