CLAIM:KPMG Identifies Zimbabwe as Top Investment Destination in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Zimbabwe Mail, an online publication, on 5 June 2024, carried the headline:’KPMG Identifies Zimbabwe as Top Investment Destination in Sub-Saharan Africa’ The story cites the audit firm’s latest report:‘Doing Deals in Sub-Saharan Africa’ Carried out during the second half of 2022, the study surveyed 150 C-suite-level (senior executives) and other senior executives based on their experience in deal-making in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the past four years The respondent group was divided equally between domestic investors (i.e., based in SSA) and international investors (i.e., based outside of SSA)
Responding to the question: ‘If you are considering an acquisition or investment in Sub-Saharan Africa over the next two years, in which countries are you considering investing in (Select all Sub-Saharan African countries that apply), 6 percent of the respondents chose Zimbabwe, together with Mozambique (also at 6 percent), placing them in the top 10 preferred investment destinations South Africa at 50 percent and Nigeria at 30 percent are the leading Sub-Saharan Africa’s most preferred investment destinations according to the KPMG study There are various surveys and reports on investment opportunities for African countries
These give different results According toEY’s Africa Attractiveness Report 2023, Zimbabwe is second to South Africa in the top five list of Southern African countries that attracted the most investment projects in 2022 South Africa is leading with 157 projects followed by Zimbabwe (14 projects) The report ranks Zimbabwe ninth on the continent
However, the Nomad Capitalist’slist of 10 African countries with investment opportunities, excludes Zimbabwe, placing Southern Africa’s Botswana and Mauritius ahead Of the 10 listed countries, eight are in SSA and these are South Africa, Rwanda, Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Tanzania The remaining two are Egypt and Morocco which are not part of the SSA TheAbsa Africa Financial Markets Index (AFMI)is considered a useful tool for assessing the investment attractiveness of African countries
It measures progress in the development of capital markets and provides individual countries with guidance on how to attract international investment In its list of28 countries, Zimbabwe is ranked at 18 It ranks behind 6 of its neighbours.
Source: Factcheckzw
