Five countries from Africa have ranked among the top 20 Global foreign investment destinations, according to a survey by US-based Foreign Policy magazine. Botswana came first, followed by Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda and Mozambique. The publication evaluated 112 countries worldwide and had Botswana come out top overall. Globally, Rwanda came in 7th, while Ghana was 8th. Uganda and Mozambique were ranked 13 and 17 respectively. Rwanda’s political stability and good governance are some other factors that were taken into consideration. The survey looks at the Baseline Profitability Index (BPI) of countries. It assesses eight factors including economic growth, financial stability, physical security, corruption, expropriation by government, exploitation by local partners, capital controls and exchange rates to determine the investment value of an economy based on the security and rate of return on investment. According to economist Daniel Altman who presented the report yesterday, the index further looks at issues of political stability, good governance as well as economic growth and levels of opportunity in the context of three key factors: How much an asset’s value grows, the preservation of that value while the asset is owned, and the ease of bringing home the proceeds from selling the asset.”
