19 October 2012

Nkosana Moyo: The Perceived Risks of Africa Create Investment Opportunities

Posted In: Risk Management

Perceived risks of investing in Africa are higher than the actual risks, and attractive investment opportunities can arise from the ‘negatives’ associated with Africa.

These were the views of Nkosana Moyo, the founder and executive chairman of the Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS), who was speaking to an audience of investment professionals at the Fifth Annual European Investment Conference, held in Prague, 18–19 October 2012.

Moyo explained that the financial markets of the developed world were considered low risk, but the financial crisis that started in 2008 proved otherwise. The 2011 GDP growth rate for Africa, estimated at 5.2%, showed that Africa’s economic growth was recovering from the drop it experienced after 2008, and it was well above the levels seen before 2001. He said that one has to be careful with aggregating data across more than 50 African countries because they are materially different from one other, but such data facilitate discussion on identifying longer-term changes.

Tags: Africa, CFA Institute European Investment Conference

Share On

About the Author(s)

Usman Hayat, CFA

Usman Hayat, CFA, writes about sustainable, responsible, and impact investing and Islamic finance. He is the lead author of "Environmental, Social, and Governance Issues in Investing: A Guide for Investment Professionals;" the literature review, "Islamic Finance: Ethics, Concepts, Practice;" and the research report "Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact Investing and Islamic Finance: Similarities and Differences." He is interested in online learning and has directed three e-courses for CFA Institute: "ESG-100," "Islamic Finance Quiz," and "Residual Income Equity Valuation." The other topics he writes about are macroeconomics and behavioral finance. He has experience working in securities regulation and as an independent consultant. His qualifications include the CFA charter, the FRM designation, an MBA, and an MA in development economics. He has served as a content director at CFA Institute. He is a former executive director at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and former CEO of the Audit Oversight Board (Pakistan). His personal interests include reading and hiking.