West Africa is the portion roughly west of 10° eastlongitude, excluding Northern Africa and theMaghreb. West Africa contains large portions of the Sahara Desert and the Adamawa Mountains.
Arabophone Africa includes the four most populous Arabic-speaking countries (Egypt, theSudan,Morocco,Algeria) as well asTunisia,Mauritania andChad, and includes a majority of both the population and the area of the Arabic-speaking countries. French has also kept a strong role in theMaghreb countries, though this has receded somewhat with officialArabization.
Khoisan languages are spoken in desert areas of Southern Africa, but were formerly spoken over a larger area, and are thought to include two small languages (Hadza andSandawe) in theAfrican Great Lakes.
A slightly less common, but equally important method of division of the continent is by investment factors. For the purposes of investing, Africa is not a single destination with a single set of standardized risk factors and homogeneous potential for reward.[2] Although some high-level similarities are evident, digging into the specifics of certain regions and countries shows that Africa comprises a range of distinct investment destinations, each with its own attractions, flaws, cultural differences and business practices.[3][4]
The investment approach was first developed by global, independent financial analytics provider and investment consultant, RisCura:
Otherwise known as the western portion of Northern Africa, these countries form theArab Maghreb Union,[5] established in 1989. The region was established with the goal of functioning as a unified political and economic grouping.Political unrest in the region[6] has stunted progress since its inception but hope still remains that the Union will fulfill its purpose in years to come.Algeria,Libya,Mauritania,Morocco,Tunisia, andWestern Sahara are included in this region.
Previously united under British rule, these countries still share strong ties,[7] as well as one significant commonality – the trade facilitation through transport on theNile River. As Egypt does not fall within the Arab Maghreb Union, it is separated from the rest ofNorth Africa. However, Egypt's strong economic and cultural ties with theMiddle East bring natural trading partners, and it is often seen grouped with the Middle East for investment purposes.[8]
This is a commonly recognized region on the continent,[9] and typically includesMauritania. However, Mauritania is sometimes allocated to the Maghreb region as it is found to have closer ties to the North African countries. TheseFrench-speaking countries share more than just a language. Due to their common history asFrench colonies, they also share similar legal and socio-political systems. The countries in this group areBenin,Burkina Faso,Cape Verde,Côte d'Ivoire,Guinea,Mali, theNiger,São Tomé and Príncipe,Senegal, andTogo.
On its own, Nigeria is the size of the entire Maghreb region on an aggregated-GDP basis. While Nigeria is traditionally grouped with the rest ofWest Africa, its reliance on the rest of the region is less pronounced, likely as a result of its massive standalone GDP, its access to international markets via its six large ports, and its population of over 170 million people.
This incorporates countries south of central and eastern Africa, and north of the South African border. The region has support from the most developed economy on the continent from the south, and access to capital coming out of South Africa as large companies look to expand into the rest of the continent. The group comprisesAngola (which offers substantialoil resources),Botswana, theComoros,Madagascar,Malawi,Mauritius,Mozambique,Namibia,Réunion (France),Zambia (substantial supply ofcopper), andZimbabwe.
Like Nigeria, South Africa is a large African economy on a standalone basis. Due to the developed nature of South Africa relative to the rest of the continent, it has not been included in the Southern African region. South Africa boasts the largestGDP per capita of all the regions (double that of Nigeria) and is the most advanced investment destination on the continent. The South African market includesEswatini andLesotho due to their reliance and proximity to SA. TheSwazi lilangeni is pegged to the South African rand, which is also accepted as currency within the country.
