A U.S-based economic advisory firm, Frontiers Strategy Group has ranked Ghana as the 4th most preferred investment destination on the continent after Angola, Kenya and Nigeria in a descending order.
The group said investment interest in the Ghanaian economy by multinationals stood at 18.73 per cent. Angola was rated third preferred investment economy by the multinationals, with 21.9 while that of Kenya stood at 23.17 per cent. Nigeria led the continent with 29.57 percent, according to a report entitled “Frontier Market Sentiment Index,” issued by the Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, 11 African countries were surveyed by multinational companies, which included European and American firms.
It quoted Mr Matt Lasov, Global Head of Advisory and Analytics of the U.S. firm as saying, “we collect data about which countries the companies are watching for potential future investment.
“Over time, that gives us a clear picture of their market priorities; which countries they are including in their future plans and which they are dropping.’’
The report said that the multinationals least considered security situation in nigeria and kenya in their preference for both countries as top business destinations in Africa.
“Rising insurgency in both countries apparently has not discouraged multinationals from venturing into business dealings as opportunities in the countries probably outweigh security risks,’’ the report said.
“The top three African countries’ rating may not come as a surprise to many. Firstly, Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, and it is still growing; Kenya is East Africa’s largest economy.
“Angola’s oil wealth had in recent times made its economy bigger, with crisis-hit Portugal relying on the Southern African country as it seeks foreign investments to put its economy back on track.
“The corporate world’s fascination with Africa shows clearly in the rates of change of sentiment,” the report said.
It, however, said that Nigeria remained the clear leader out of the African countries with twice the number of companies in the index considering investing in the West African country.
“Nearly three in 10 companies have Nigeria on their watch list,” it said.
