Morocco unseats South Africa in investment attractiveness ranking and comes second after Egypt, according to Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) annual report.

The South African Investment advisory firm RMB made public the 9th edition of its annual report, dubbed ‘Where to Invest in Africa’, which analyzes 54 African Economies based on their investment attractiveness.

The report says that despite being the 5th largest market in Morocco, the kingdom ranked second in the continent thanks to a “greatly enhanced operating environment” and a medium-term growth rate of 4%. The report adds that Morocco became appealing from an investment perspective due to its reintegration into the African Union and integration into he Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Egypt came ranked first in the RMB report thanks to the immensity of its market, the progressive growth of investment private investment. South Africa, which lost its second rank to Morocco because of lack of structural reform and low growth level, still maintains a leading position in terms of financial inclusion.

Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tunisia took the remaining position, respectively.

In addition to South Africa’s deterioration caused by a cyclical downturn, Ethiopia and Tanzania have also suffered economic blows.

Also, characteristic of this year’s report is the fact that Tunisia regained its position in the top 10 African countries in investment attractiveness. Likewise, Guinea, Mozambique and Djibouti gained the most in the ranking this year.

Commenting on this unexpected improvement in their business environment, co-author and Head of RMB Global Markets Research, Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana said “After nine years of publishing, we never fail to be both pleased and surprised by the extent of improvement in countries that are not necessarily perceived as strong investment destinations,”