Research shows Nigeria performing poorly in Africa investment

The ranking indicated that Botswana made it to the top based on credit ratings, current account ratio, ease of doing business, and import cover.Coming at the 19th position out of the 54 countries on the continent, the Managing Director, Head of Quantum Global Research Lab, Prof. Milton Delo, at a media briefing in Lagos, said Nigeria stand a better chance for long term investment based on its Gross Domestic Product and population.

He said the country has no reason to worry about its external debt, and would bounce back as the rating showed that efforts to move it out of recession were yielding positive results, adding that the convergence in foreign exchange (forex) remained a remarkable effort that would reduce the risk factor in the market.

“I expect Nigeria to improve. I see the oil price and the micro economy stabilising. Nigeria is good for a long term investment,” Delo said,
that although the oil price could fluctuate but in the short and medium term it would haul because the supply exceeds demand.

He noted that investment in other sectors of the Nigerian economy would increase, particularly in the areas of social capital. “Nigeria has huge manufacturing potential. It also has huge potentials in agro processing and massive potentials in infrastructure. The power sector will attract long investment and the real estate sector. Oil is not the complete determinant. Nigeria has a lot more to invest in.”

Delo stressed that it is critical for Nigeria to invest in infrastructure leveraging public private partnership initiative to fast track the country’s growth.Botswana, Morocco, Egypt and South Africa, Zambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria, Tanzania, Namibia and Burkina Faso were rated top 10, while Somalia, Eritrea, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Malawi, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia and Madagascar were rated worst.

According to the report, in terms of improvement in the past three years, Nigeria and other countries such as Algeria, and Tunisia showed a worsening of their positions in the ranking, while Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Swaziland and Tanzania showed improvement.

Source: The Guardian