Nigeria Inch into ‘Africa Country of Future’ Top 10

Despite a well articulated policy designed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to see Nigeria among the 20 leading global economies in 2020, the country continues to titer in development strides.

Although, variously described as one of the ‘fastest’ emerging economies in Africa and projected to surpass even the continent’s power house, South Africa in the next 24 months, poor infrastructure, insecurity and other economic potholes hinders real progress.

However, its battered image got a boost recently as fDi magazine recently named it in the 2013-2014 “African Country of the Future” list for the first time which has consistently seen South Africa, Morocco and Mauritius topping the list.

The list has South Africa crowned as the Country of the Future, with Morocco and Mauritius coming in second and third respectively.

Nigeria and Botswana are the two new entrants to the Future country list, which has South Africa, Morocco and Mauritius leading the pack. Egypt continues to do great in the index despite unrest in the past two years leading to the ousters of two presidents – Hosni Mubarak and Mohammed Morsi.

Elsewhere, Nigeria trails South Africa in the “Economic Potential category.”

Despite major issues such as corruption, security and infrastructure inadequacies blighting the country in recent years, Nigeria has seen its GDP almost treble since the turn of the century.

According to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission’s submission for fDi’s African Countries of the Future, the Nigerian government is keenly aware that major issues need to be tackled in order for the country to unlock its potential. To address this, it says the government has “implemented various improvement measures in order to reach its goal of being one of the world’s 20 largest economies by 2020.”

The report notes that following a slight decline in FDI in 2009/10, investments into Nigeria increased 41 per cent in 2011 and a further 20per cent in 2012. The oil industry is a dominant feature of the Nigerian economy, though the communications sector is also a strong area of growth.

According to fDi Markets, FDI in the communications sector accounted for one-quarter of all investments in the Nigeria in 2012, and as penetration levels remain relatively low in this large and growing consumer market, this sector continues to offer huge opportunities to existing and new players alike.

South Africa is top of the Economic Potential table. The country’s GDP stands at more than $5.8bn and it is the largest economy in Africa. South Africa has attracted more R&D investments than other African country and accounts for the largest number of patents registered in the continent.

Exports from the country increased 24per cent in 2011 whereas imports increased 18% when compared to 2010 figures, and both were more than 13per cent higher than 2008 levels.

A new entrant into the top 10 for Economic Potential, Kenya ranked third thanks largely to its strong performance in FDI attraction. Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, was the fastest growing African city for FDI between 2009 and 2012 and was second only to Johannesburg as a destination for FDI in 2012.

Many initiatives are currently being developed to drive the Kenyan economy and in turn encourage investors into the country.

In its submission for fDi’s African Countries of the Future, KenInvest said: “The development of the national investment policy… is aimed at streamlining the investment promotion and facilitation process in Kenya to make it simpler. Full implementation of the… new constitution is on its own expected to increase the level of foreign participation in the country”.

A well-administered country by regional standards, Ghana ranks fourth in the Economic Potential category of fDi’s African Countries of the Future 2013/14.

In the past few years, Ghana has attracted its largest ever FDI project following the discovery of major offshore oil reserves in 2007.

In July 2009, South African company New Alpha Refinery announced plans to construct a new $6bn oil refinery in Accra in what will be the largest refinery in West Africa.

With production set to begin in 2015, the refinery should initially produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day with a view to eventually doubling capacity.

The top 10 countries include: South Africa, Morocco, Mauritius, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, Tunisia and Namibia.