FDI in Africa to reach $150bn by 2015 -Report

As a new investment destination, Nigeria and other African countries could attract billions of dollars in new investment over the next few years, as emerging market investors search for higher returns and foreign perceptions of risk improve, Ernst and Young said on Tuesday.The global accounting firm said in a report entitled, Its time for Africa that foreign direct investment (FDI) into the continent was forecast to reach $150 billion by 2015 from $84 billion in 2010.According to Ernst and Young, the continent driven by strong growth in new projects from next year and with the surveying of over 562 global executives on where they would invest over the next decade wherein 42 per cent of them were considering investing further in Africa, while an additional 19 per cent confirmed maintaining operations in the region, the African continent was set to witness a huge foreign direct investment inflow.The report said the continent was becoming increasingly attractive to international investors planning new developments and expanding existing ones and that perceptions were becoming increasingly positive over the longer term.It identified Asia as the only continent ahead of Africa in terms of investors perceptions.While Africas challenges are well documented, there is an increasing recognition that the continent is on an upward trajectory; economically, politically and socially, Ernst and Young said in its 2011 Africa attractiveness survey.It projected gross domestic product (GDP) to grow to $2.6 trillion by 2020 from $1.6 trillion in 2008 and consumer spending to increase 62 per cent to $1.4 trillion over the same period.
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