Kenya drops to 11th place among 31 top African investment destinations

Kenya has been ranked 11th out of 31 top African investment destinations in a new index by the Rand Merchant Bank (RMB).

RMB is among the continent’s top corporate and investment lenders and is part of FirstRand Limited, one of Africa's largest financial institutions by market cap.

The 2024 Where to Invest in Africa report ranks the 31 economies based on 20 metrics across four main pillars; economic performance and potential; market accessibility and innovation; economic stability and investment climate; as well as social and human development.

Kenya ranks behind Seychelles Mauritius, Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Nigeria and Algeria, in that order.

This is a drop from the 10th position in last year’s index.

It is followed closely by Tanzania, Ethiopia, Botswana and Rwanda in the 12th to 15th positions respectively.

With a 0.14 overall score, East Africa’s economic powerhouse ranks eighth in the market accessibility and innovation pillar, while for social and human development it is at position 10, economic performance and potential 13. For economic stability and investment climate, it is ranked 17th.

In the specific metrics, Kenya ranks well in economic freedom, economic complexity, population size and GDP.

At the same time, it performs poorly in urbanisation, political stability, forex stability and liquidity, corruption and population growth.

Kenya is one of Africa’s most vibrant technology and innovation hubs but has in recent months experienced deadly demonstrations against the government’s tax hike proposals and concerns of corruption and mismanagement of public resources.

“Investors will be watching Kenya’s approach to its lowest metric score: political stability. Kenya’s ranking of 25 out of 31 countries reflects political and social tensions that flow from inequality and corruption, as well as the security risks that come with ongoing conflict in the region - including the country’s neighbours Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia,” the report says.

“Signs of improvement in political risk will make the highly diversified economy with growing ICT and finance sectors more attractive to investors.”