Nigeria may soon replace South Africa as top investment destination in Africa

While South Africa remains the most attractive corporate investment destination in Africa, Nigeria is nipping at its heels and may overtake it as soon as next year, according to a new survey.

Nigeria has moved into second place, from third last year, overtaking Egypt which is now in third position despite its continuing political upheavals. This is according to the Rand Merchant Bank’s annual ” Where to Invest in Africa: A guide to corporate investment” report.

The report places South Africa 33rd in the overall world rankings, its worst position ever. Nigeria, on the other hand, has improved 35 places in the past decade to rank 38th in the world index.

The researcher and co-author of the guide, Celeste Fauconnier, said the gap between the two African giants was narrowing because Nigeria was “doing well” while South Africa was “stagnating”.

(More: South Africa economy still larger than Nigeria’s – though gap narrowing)

South Africa is placed second last in comparison with its fellow BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) economies. China is ranked first, India eighth and Brazil 27th with Russia in last place at 34th.

Nigeria could replace South Africa in top place in the next two to four years, or even sooner, if the revisions to gross domestic product (GDP) under way see the size of the former’s economy adjusted upwards as much as 40 percent. This would put the West African country close to South Africa’s GDP of US$384 billion.

Nigeria’s gross domestic product is now US$268.7 billion, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Read more: BusinessDay