(3 minutes read)
· Sub-Saharan Africa has to undergo an image makeover to attract more investment.
· According to a report prepared by risk consultants Verisk Maplecroft, the region has been named riskiest region in the world for businesses and investors due to militant violence and abuses by security forces
· This perception would adversely affect the foreign direct investment flow into the region, while Sub Sahara needs foreign direct investment that can be pumped into manufacturing and infrastructure development
Sub-Saharan Africa has to undergo an image makeover to attract more investment. According to a report prepared by risk consultants Verisk Maplecroft, the region has been named riskiest region in the world for businesses and investors due to militant violence and abuses by security forces.
This perception would adversely affect the foreign direct investment flow into the region, while Sub Sahara needs foreign direct investment that can be pumped into manufacturing and infrastructure development. The region desperately needs investments from various sources to tie down its endemic problems like unemployment and foreign exchange crisis. Lack of law and order in some countries is also another factor that holds back investments into the region. Investors have to be assured of safety of their investments to ensure their continued interests in the region.
The pandemic also has left its indelible mark in the investment flows into the region. This was further compounded by the tensions on the labor front. For instance, in countries like South Africa, labor unions and state authorities are at loggerheads in the fixation of wages. There are reports that the unions are not budging the government’s decision to cut the salaries on account of continued fiscal strains. A recent decision of the Labor Appeal Court also thumbed down the labor demand for increase in salaries as a part of the agreement entered with the labor unions earlier. The government’s plea is that it did not have the resources to meet the increased wage bill.
