Nigeria ranked ninth African investment destination

Nigeria was ranked as the ninth most investable African country in 2024, as per the latest RMB Where to Invest in Africa report.

The report, which was released recently, showed that Nigeria had a score of 0.163 when assessed on the four pillars of economic performance & potential, market accessibility & innovation, economic stability & investment climate and social & human development.

Nigeria was ranked behind Seychelles, Mauritius, Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Tunisia, and Senegal.

Algeria capped out the top 10 rankings in the report.

Analysing the investment climate in Nigeria, the report said, “Having topped the rankings as Africa’s largest economy by GDP for some time, Nigeria is now third, following a major currency devaluation. However, Nigeria ends up further down the investability scoreboard than its sheer size may suggest, with an overall ranking of ninth on our model.

“Nigeria boasts $375bn a year in GDP and the continent’s largest population—nearly 220 million people. This is countered, however, by a middling score for GDP per capita at just 15th in the RMB Where to Invest in Africa model. Economic complexity is another stark economic headwind. Nigeria’s reliance on oil exports is reflected in its 29th position on the model for economic complexity. Petroleum and crude oils make up nearly 70 per cent of its trade flows.”

RMB added that the political scene of the country made it a politically fraught place for investors.

“All this makes for a challenging business environment where great benefits are available to those who succeed. At the same time, Nigeria is becoming an easier place for investors to succeed. Its 2016 ranking on the Ease of Doing Business index was 169 out of 190 countries.42 It rose to position 131 in the 2020 edition,” it concluded its brief on Nigeria.

However, Nigeria was listed among the ‘Highflyer’ countries in the report.

“‘Highflyers’ represent the large, well-established economies that offer stability and a range of investment opportunities, such as Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia. Those ‘Cleared for Take-off’ are countries with high economic growth and innovation potential thanks to factors like a young population and abundant resources, including Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.

“‘People Potential’ markets with a young and growing demographic, creating a sizeable consumer base and a future workforce, such as Kenya, DRC and Uganda. ‘Global Connectors’ are more advanced economies with a strong international presence, such as Morocco, Mauritius, Tunisia and Seychelles. ‘Low-Base Boomers’ are smaller markets with high potential for explosive growth but a corresponding higher degree of risk, including Rwanda, Mozambique, and Benin,” a statement accompanying the report read.

The Chief Economist at RMB, Isaah Mhlanga, explained, “The richness of Africa’s diversity makes fully analysing its nuance and contrast a challenging task, but an important one when it comes to understanding the varied markets that make up this vast regional economy.

“The 2024 RMB Where to Invest in Africa report aims to develop a balanced, robust and actionable view of the drivers, challenges and opportunities that characterise each of the 31 African markets included in the analysis.”