CEOs reveal Africa’s top 10 investment destinations

Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria have been identified as the three most attractive African investment destinations in a new Deloitte survey that was released at the Africa CEO Forum, which took place in Abidjan last week.

Deloitte’s 2022 Africa Investment Attractiveness Index is based on the responses of almost 200 CEOs – from both French and English-speaking African countries – to the following question: “Based on the key location factors for your industry, which African countries you find to be the most attractive for investment at the present time?”

The executives ranked the top 10 African countries as follows:

1. Côte d’Ivoire

Same position as 2020 ranking

2. Ghana

Up from 2020 ranking

3. Nigeria

Up from 2020 ranking

4. Senegal

Same as 2020 ranking

5. Kenya

Down from 2020 ranking

6. Rwanda

Down from 2020 ranking

7. Morocco

Up from 2020 ranking

8. Tanzania

Up from 2020 ranking

9. Togo

Up from 2020 ranking

10. South Africa / Benin

Both up from 2020 ranking

Survey respondents identified the business environment (27%) and market access and size (22%) as the two main criteria when choosing a location, followed by tax and regulations (14%), country risk (13%), local human resources (12%) and infrastructure (11%).

According to Deloitte, the index aims to provide an overview of the investment appetite of private sector leaders. However, it is not designed to analyse investment conditions or rank the ease of doing business in a given country.

“Before investing in Africa, we first assess the three following areas: rule of law, stability of the local currency and quality of local talent. Meeting and partnering with local people on which you can rely and build on the ground is also a key success factor. As a telecom provider, we often face challenging situations with local regulators and with customer expectations. However, my confidence in Africa is unspoiled, I see growth in terms of professionalism and ability to operate,” Hassanein Hiridjee, CEO of Madagascar-based pan-African diversified group Axian, was quoted saying in Deloitte’s publication.

“West Africa is the heartbeat of our footprint and alongside Côte d’Ivoire, which remains an attractive country, Togo and Benin are emerging as strong opportunities and solid contributors to our performance,” said Paul-Harry Aithnard, a regional executive at Ecobank.

Automotive and spare parts distributer Optorg Group currently operates in 25 countries, having recently expanded to new markets such as Ghana, Rwanda and Mauritania. “Over the longer term, our strategy is to invest in countries with critical size and diversified economies particularly in North Africa, in East and West Africa,” commented the group’s deputy managing director Laila Ait El Mkadem.

Source: How we made it in Africa