Access to finance has been identified as one of the biggest challenges to Zambia’s investor attractiveness, according to Celeste Fauconnier, RMB Africa analyst and co-author of Where to Invest in Africa.
The report this year ranked Zambia 17th out of 53 countries on the continent in its investment attractiveness index. This is one spot down from it 16th position last year.
This ranking is achieved by balancing economic activity against the relative ease of doing business in the country. According to Fauconnier the report in 2018 found that regional stalwarts had struggled to adapt to the prolonged slowdown in commodity prices and sluggish levels of production growth. She said despite a slew of positive developments in the operating environments of many prominent African jurisdictions, subdued levels of economic activity had diluted several scores.
Algeria, for example, which had previously scored in the Top 10 had dropped to 15. In Zambia, ongoing development of the extractive sector along with strong fiscal spending continues to underpin the country’s performance. Addressing its infrastructure shortfall has for some time been a priority.
Speaking in London recently Zambia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Muyeba Chikonde, said the Zambian Government wanted to attract international businesses of all sizes. The country had a lot of trade and investment opportunities for those looking to do business, he added.
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