Although most investment destinations in Africa are ranked based on the tenets of economic activity and business operating environment, The South African Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) approach required more precision and a just a little more sophistication, ensuring that certain key factors such as fiscal scores and development plans were considered before releasing its list of the top ten investment attractive countries in Africa.
As investors targeting real assets in an economy or simply looking for the perfect country to expand your business with no need for physical infrastructure, any of these countries will be the perfect choice for you.
- Egypt: Like many other countries, Egypt’s economy was greatly affected by COVID-19. However, through the swift and precautionary measures it applied during the outbreak of this pandemic, it has become one of the first countries to quickly and successfully recover from the crises in its economy. Egypt is currently back on a path of immeasurable growth.
- Morocco: In 2020, a special fund was put together to battle the pandemic. This represented 2.7% of the country’s GDP and about one-third of this fund was provided by the government while the rest was provided by the private sector. However, Morocco’s economy enjoys the benefits acquired from political stability.
- South Africa: The country provides strong manufacturing, and retail base that offers goods and services which continue to support its regional economies.
- Rwanda: As part of the National Strategy for Transformation (NST), Rwanda has made several investments that are enough to support the energy and construction sectors over the next few years. Also, its efforts towards improving its operating environment are of huge benefit to its economy.
- Botswana: The pandemic hit the world hard. However, this country was able to withstand the pandemic-induced storm better than many because of its high foreign exchange reserves. It was able to do this through a sovereign fund called the Pula fund, which was created in 1994 to finance a large part of the budget deficit. Botswana’s fiscal dependency on a debt has been low ever since.
- Ghana: Over the past few years, Ghana’s economy has had major shifts positioning it for significant growth. Unlike most of its West-African peers, Ghana was able to weather the crisis caused by the pandemic through support from its primary-sector industries like oil and golf as well as the fast development in its tertiary sector.
- Mauritius: The financial sector is aided by a favourable tax regime, and cross-border investment activities and the banking sector plays a key role in pushing its economy forward.
- Côte d’Ivoire (CIV): Under the 2016-20 National Development Plan, the impetus provided by public investment is of a huge benefit to private investment and an increase in private investment will continue to fuel construction, agri-industry, and services including trade, transport, and ICT in particular
- Kenya: According to RMB, rapid economic growth can only be achieved if the Kenyan government succeeds in its efforts towards ensuring the implementation of the “Big Four” plan solely focused on industrialization, universal health coverage, food security, and affordable housing.
- Tanzania: The consistent public investment by the government into advancing key secondary and tertiary sectors such as the energy sector, telecommunications, and finance sectors has placed Tanzania on a rapid path to great success, development, and growth.