The report released on May 2 2012 combines an annual analysis of investment into Africa since 2003, with a survey of 505 global executives on their views about how and where investment will take place in the next decade and predicts that Africa is poised to enter the premier league of investment destinations.
“There was strong growth in the number of new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Africa in 2011 with project numbers almost up to levels last seen in 2008,” reads the report in part.
It says in the last decade, Africa has seen an increase in inward investment from 339 new projects in 2003 to 857 in 2011 (an increase of 153 percent).
“Investment has come from across the world with strong growth in project numbers from rapid-growth markets and developed markets alike with projects from the former increasing from 99 to 319 and developed markets projects from 240 to 538 since 2003. Intra-African investment has also been a key driver of this growth,” it adds.
Among rapid growth markets, India has led the way as the fourth largest FDI investor by number of projects since 2003 with annual compound growth of 46 percent since 2007.
China and the UAE remain prominent, too, but there is high growth in investment from an increasingly diverse range of other rapid growth markets with South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Turkey among those at the forefront.
