EIU survey shows 25% of global investors eye Ghana
Ghana is seen as the right country with the potential for high returns on investments.
A survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for fund manager Invest AD, in Ghana and other African countries has revealed that 25% of global institutional investors expect more investment returns in Ghana over the next three years.
The survey, released January 24, 2012 entitled “Into Africa: institutional investor intentions to 2016” sought the views of 158 senior executives at global institutions such as pension and endowment funds and insurance firms on returns of their investments in the future.
Ghana came 5th on a list of the top 19 African countries in terms of investment returns seen by the respondents.
The investors were asked “Which of the following African markets do you think offer the best prospects overall for investment returns over the next three years?”
Nigeria topped the list with 51% of respondents followed by Kenya (48%), Zimbabwe (35%) and Egypt (34%), the survey revealed.
Of the respondents to the Invest AD-EIU survey, about a fifth worked for companies with assets under management (AUM) of over $10 billion, another fifth represented firms with AUM of $1 billion-$10 billion, and 27% were at firms with AUM between $250 million and $1 billion.
The companies represented were spread evenly across North America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.
“This is extremely good news for Africa as a strong capital flow should feed a virtual cycle of job creation, income rises, and more investment,” said Nazem Al Kudsi, chief executive of Abu Dhabi-based Invest AD, which manages funds investing in Africa and the Middle East.
“Institutional investors are recognising an Africa that is better-governed, is less dependent on resource extraction, and is increasingly dominated by middle-class expectations,” Nazem Al Kudsi added.
Consumer spending on the continent is forecast to grow 60% to $1.4 trillion by 2020, according to Invest AD citing the World Bank, with the number of households with disposable income rising by 50% to 128 million.
By Ekow Quandzie
Watch Invest AD and Economist Intelligence Unit report