Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) have not essentially delivered on the development outcomes that were expected in Eastern Africa.

This was affirmed by Eastern Africa experts who met in Kinshasa's Intergovernmental Committee of Experts meeting.

"We are not saying that Foreign Direct Investment is not important, but what we discovered is that the amount of jobs being created by foreign investors is very small compared with the scale of the employment challenges of the region," said Antonio Pedro, Director of UNECA' Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa.

The UNECA report for 14 countries, member states of sub-Regional office of eastern Africa, states that these countries have managed to double their participation in global FDI inflows during the last decade yet there was no significant feat given the enormous upswing in FDI globally over recent decades.

The report also says that FDI inflows to Africa increased by 5 per cent in 2012 to $50 billion in 2012 -more than the aid received.

Democratic Republic of Congo has been among one of the main beneficiaries of the recent increases in FDI to the continent, reaching a record inflow of USD 3.3 billion in 2012.

China has been particularly active in DRC since 2008, when its FDI flows increased substantially, from just USD 38 million in 2006 to USD 631 million in 2010.

Andrew Mold, Senior economist of UNECA, said that a key question to ask is whether the Eastern Africa region can attract FDI in the quantities and of the 'quality' desired to accelerate structural transformation. Past performance suggests that this may be difficult.

"The United States is still the largest foreign direct investor in the word. Yet, of a total number of 25,000 majority-owned affiliates globally, just 17 US firms were investing in the 14 Eastern African countries in 2010. Not one registered any appreciable R&D", he explained.

The four-day Intergovernmental Committee of Experts meeting in Kinshasa examined the ingredients of creating and supporting the "National Champions".

"National champions we are talking about here are individual firms, men and women with the ability, the skills, the knowledge, the drive and are risk takers to harness the opportunity arising from this continent and are embracing the Afrocapitalism revolution and becoming the prime diverse of growth and structural transformation on the continent", explained Pedro. He further clarified that that Afrocapitalism is a private sector led partnership mode focused on Africa's development.

Pedro said that Africa will be two billion people soon and that the continent is young, with a growing middle class, urbanizing very fast and many more promising trends. "If we don't generate jobs for our young people we will have serious social and economical problems. We will not have social cohesion that we are hoping and talking about among our people. Generating sufficient jobs to our youth is a vital issue."