South Africa is viewed as a gateway to the rest of the continent says RMB's Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana.
According to RMB’s 2020 Where to Invest in Africa report, even with the country’s ease of doing business ranking having slipped in the last few years, South Africa remains one of the Top 10 easiest operating environments in Africa.
Despite falling from second place to third, South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) remains Africa’s most liquid stock exchange with an excess of $1.4 billion traded daily. South Africa also ranked highly on other financial market depth measures like private credit as a percentage of gross domestic product.
RMB Global Markets Research head and co-author of the report Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana said:
“This has allowed international companies to still view South Africa as a gateway to the rest of the continent.”
The GDP growth for South Africa is however, uninspiring. Due to the modest demand and persistent electricity constraints, the GDP growth is forecast at only 0.6 percent and one percent in 2020 and 2021 respectively.