East African Business Week (Kampala)
Geoffrey Kamali
5 February 2007
Nairobi — Is Sub-Saharan Africa now a more attractive destination for investment than yester-years?
The World Bank appears to give an optimistic overview in a new report, just released Thursday.
Titled 'Snapshot Africa', the report is a result of a survey conducted by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the Bank's private sector arm specialised in promoting investment in emerging economies.
The report says about 300 investors, both local and foreign, were interviewed.
It compares operating costs and conditions for investors in six industries in nine countries in the region that included Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The study, designed to help investment promotion intermediaries in developing countries attract foreign direct investment (FDI), is the fifth in a series of sector analyses under MIGA.
Among sectors sampled include textiles, apparel, food and beverage processing, horticulture, tourism, and call centers.
"These sectors currently attract the highest level of mobile FDI in sub-Saharan Africa," a statement issued by the Bank says.
The study also examined a number of thriving investments, highlighting what it says are untapped potential of these sectors.
"Given low current investment levels, a first in advantage awaits those investors ready to move into these relatively underdeveloped markets," the statement explains.
Since its inception, MIGA has issued more than 850 guarantees for projects in some 95 developing countries, with a total of over $16 billion in coverage.
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