Mauritius Leads Bloomberg Africa Investment Ranking as Nigeria Jumps Four Spots

Bloomberg Economics released its 2026 Africa Investment Risk-o-Meter, ranking 19 markets on five pillars and standardising indicators into Z-scores. Mauritius achieved the highest overall score of 0.6, narrowly surpassing South Africa’s 0.5, driven by strong institutions and governance. Nigeria recorded the largest ascent, climbing four spots to eighth with a score of 0.1 after reforms that boosted economic and fiscal strength and reduced external vulnerability, though it still lags in institutions and infrastructure.

South Africa slipped one place due to a weaker growth outlook despite some electricity and logistics gains. Botswana fell two places as its diamond-sector downturn hurt fiscal buffers, prompting a Moody’s downgrade. The rankings coincide with Mauritius hosting the October 7 launch of the African Union-backed Africa Credit Rating Agency and its investment-grade rating from Moody’s, while Nigeria’s reforms have been highlighted by the World Bank but face infrastructure and social-cost challenges. The index reflects relative risk among the sampled countries, not absolute investment safety.