African countries occupy top rankings in Standard Chartered Trade20 Index

African countries are making grades in the global assessment of development potentials. According to Standard Chartered’s Trade20 Index, African economies were high in the pecking order of rankings for the top 20 markets with the greatest potential for future trade growth. The study conducted by researchers was based on their activities in the countries over the past ten years.

Côte d’Ivoire was ranked first out of 66 countries for having the greatest potential for future growth, followed by Kenya ranked third and Ghana thirteenth, based on measurable attributes   including   economic dynamism, trade readiness, ease of doing business and export diversity.

The study revealed that while countries like China and India are continuing to rapidly improve their trade potential, African countries like Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire have cemented their positions as East and West African trading hubs, though from a relatively low starting point. Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire are attracting huge investments in infrastructure and e-commerce. These countries have perched high in the ranking of ease of doing business, signalling marked improvements in business environment.

In the case of economic dynamism (ease of doing business), Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have performed well going by the flow of foreign direct investment, export and GDP growth. Côte d’Ivoire registered a   robust GDP growth at 7.4% in 2019, while exports also grew significantly during the last ten years. Kenya was one of the largest recipients of foreign investment in Africa. Its flow of FDI has grown 27% since 2010. The rise in investment was mainly due to Chinese presence in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors. The rankings, inter alia, of the Standard Chartered are the following: