Yes she is..The time magazine (March issue) had an interesting coverage on Investing in Africa with a case of a bank in Togo “Ecobank”. Ecobank employs 11,000 people and has 620 branches in 26 countries with an excellent balance sheet of $8 billion dollars, and not only that, it actually makes money in the current world economical crisis; it made a whooping 32% profit in 2007 amounting to $104 million dollars and its up 47% this year.

Why is Africa the perfect destination for investment today?
1. Africa’s average annual growth from 2004 to 2008 according to the IMF is more than 6%, which is better than any developed economy.

2. According to the world bank Africans living on $1.25 a day or less dropped from 59% to 51% from 1996 to 2005, and has decreased further.

3. According to the February Issue of AllAfrica Journal, two Oxford University economist by the name of Collier Paul and Witney Schneidman wrote in an advisory to President Obama during his campaign and I quote “Africa, usually the poorest performing region in the world economy, is now likely to be among the best performing”.

I could go on and on with references, which beats the point.  It seems that Investors from China are the only investors actually flocking to Africa for business opportunities. This is acknowledged by the fact that trade between Africa and China has grown to an average of 30% in the past decade, topping $106 billion last year.

The rest are busy either saving Africa from poverty and sickness through pumping money into ineffective aid programs or watching Africa with Scepticism. This needs to change, as Africa is open for business.

Do you think, Africa is the best place to invest now?
Let me know through your commentaries.