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Quantum Global has released its latest Africa Investment Index (AII), showing that Nigeria ranks as the 19th most attractive destination for foreign investment in Africa.

The Swiss-based investment manager said Nigeria attracted a net foreign direct investment of $3.1 billion in 2015. The country is also expected to exit recession with 1 percent growth in 2017 and 2.5 percent in 2018.

“Despite the current economic challenges, we are quite confident on the medium to long term market prospects,” said Prof. Mthuli Ncube, Head of Quantum Global Research Lab, which compiled the AII report. “Nigeria has earmarked a significant amount of capital to develop critical infrastructure in the country and there are various opportunities for public private collaboration providing investors’ return on their investments. We anticipate that investment in infrastructure will underpin the growth of the economy and meet the needs of a large Nigerian growth population.”

Following the decline in oil prices, Nigeria has intensified efforts towards diversifying the local economy, laying out a roadmap to enhance public infrastructure and support high growth sectors such as manufacturing, ICT, agriculture, amongst others. The West African country plans to meet the local demand along with boosting exports globally in the short to medium term to stabilise the macro-economy.

“Despite the current market volatility, Nigeria presents tremendous investment opportunities in these areas, which would not only support the local economy but also deliver significant yields to foreign investors,” Ncube said.

The AII report is constructed from macroeconomic and financial indicators and the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business indicators. The ranking focuses on six factors from a wider range of investment indicators such as share of domestic investment in GDP, the share of Africa’s total FDI net inflow, GDP growth rate forecast, population augmented GDP growth factor, import-cover ratio, current account, etc.

According to the AII report, the top five African investment destinations attracted an overall foreign direct investment of $13.6 billion. Botswana was ranked the most attractive economy for investments followed by Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, and Zambia. The five least desirable investment destinations on the continent are: Somalia, Eritrea, Central African Republic, and South Sudan.

Founded in 2003, Quantum Global is an international group of companies active in the areas of private equity investments, investment management, private wealth management, macroeconomic research and econometric modelling. The company’s private equity arm manages a family of funds targeting direct investments in Africa in the sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, hotels, infrastructure, mining and timber.