What To Consider With African Investments
In the eyes of the investment worlds, Africa has always been thought of as a 'basket case' and an area not to be considered too heavily for any regular investor. In very recent times however, the markets in Africa have seen some significant growth and development and there are some growing and attractive options in African investments for the right investor.
The question is, why invest in Africa when there are safer opportunities elsewhere? Well, there are certainly big profits to be made, as well as the fact that you will be helping the poorest continent on the planet. The country does suffer from serious problems, from famine, disease and civil war, and this has put many people off investing for a long time. That is not to say that there is not great potential however.
These natural resources have led to exploitation and pillaging by foreign nations and indeed the colonialist attitudes of the British Empire amongst others have somewhat led to the deep economic issues that the continent suffers today. As a result Africa sees constant aid in the form of charity and relief and yet the only way that the nations of Africa will begin to flourish is through a massive increase in foreign enterprise and investment. As can be seen from the figures, a couple of years back, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for a mere 1% of foreign investment. Yet it has also be shown that this region provides the highest returns on investment than any other in the whole world.
with different risks such as political problems and currency fluctuations it is possible that your investment will fall into a black hole. However, in many parts of the continent, countries are seeing a rise in democracy and a stabilisation of their economies, which has in turn led on to the growth of new markets and industries.
The economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing, with the largest growth areas being seen in industries such as finance, infrastructure and tourism. Tourism particularly is an important industry for African nations and encourages people to see what these countries have to offer, in turn bringing in foreign investment.
If you just look at the stock markets of these areas, it is plain to see that there is serious progress being made, as they outscore world averages consistently. At the same time the number of exchanges have seen a rise from eight to ten over the previous decade. Furthermore, the powerhouse of the continent, South Africa, has continued to see positive growth which is fundamentally important to the entire region seeing as it account for about 25% of the GDP.
For any canny investor willing to take a slight risk in the hope of some high returns there is no doubt that Africa can offer some significant opportunity. The main problem for any independent, small time investor is finding funds that will offer then the opportunity.
It is however, not easy to do so. Since there is low demand, it is difficult to find fund managers who will be offering African funds. It is possible perhaps to find some good exposure to certain mining funds, through some of the larger funds. Other funds will offer some exposure to Africa. Genesis, a successful fund in emerging markets, for example, has a 10% of its fund invested in South Africa and other 5% in Egypt, with smaller holding in growing African nations. For someone adamant that they find an appropriate fund, they can be discovered. - 23222
The question is, why invest in Africa when there are safer opportunities elsewhere? Well, there are certainly big profits to be made, as well as the fact that you will be helping the poorest continent on the planet. The country does suffer from serious problems, from famine, disease and civil war, and this has put many people off investing for a long time. That is not to say that there is not great potential however.
These natural resources have led to exploitation and pillaging by foreign nations and indeed the colonialist attitudes of the British Empire amongst others have somewhat led to the deep economic issues that the continent suffers today. As a result Africa sees constant aid in the form of charity and relief and yet the only way that the nations of Africa will begin to flourish is through a massive increase in foreign enterprise and investment. As can be seen from the figures, a couple of years back, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for a mere 1% of foreign investment. Yet it has also be shown that this region provides the highest returns on investment than any other in the whole world.
with different risks such as political problems and currency fluctuations it is possible that your investment will fall into a black hole. However, in many parts of the continent, countries are seeing a rise in democracy and a stabilisation of their economies, which has in turn led on to the growth of new markets and industries.
The economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing, with the largest growth areas being seen in industries such as finance, infrastructure and tourism. Tourism particularly is an important industry for African nations and encourages people to see what these countries have to offer, in turn bringing in foreign investment.
If you just look at the stock markets of these areas, it is plain to see that there is serious progress being made, as they outscore world averages consistently. At the same time the number of exchanges have seen a rise from eight to ten over the previous decade. Furthermore, the powerhouse of the continent, South Africa, has continued to see positive growth which is fundamentally important to the entire region seeing as it account for about 25% of the GDP.
For any canny investor willing to take a slight risk in the hope of some high returns there is no doubt that Africa can offer some significant opportunity. The main problem for any independent, small time investor is finding funds that will offer then the opportunity.
It is however, not easy to do so. Since there is low demand, it is difficult to find fund managers who will be offering African funds. It is possible perhaps to find some good exposure to certain mining funds, through some of the larger funds. Other funds will offer some exposure to Africa. Genesis, a successful fund in emerging markets, for example, has a 10% of its fund invested in South Africa and other 5% in Egypt, with smaller holding in growing African nations. For someone adamant that they find an appropriate fund, they can be discovered. - 23222
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Want to find out more about african investment, then visit the African Infrastructure and Global Connection's (AI&GC) site on how to choose begin investing in this economy.
posted by X - Men @ 2:52 AM
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