Nigeria has climbed four places to eighth in Bloomberg Economics’ latest Investment Risk-O-Meter, recording the biggest improvement among 19 African economies assessed in the 2026 ranking.
The stronger position saw Nigeria move ahead of Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Namibia, with Bloomberg linking the improvement partly to economic reforms introduced under President Bola Tinubu.
In its latest An Investor’s Guide to Africa, Bloomberg said Nigeria recorded gains in three of the five indicators used to measure investment risk — economic strength, fiscal strength and external vulnerability.
“Nigeria was the biggest climber in a ranking of Africa’s most investable markets, propelled by President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms,” Bloomberg reported.
Mauritius retained the top position as Africa’s most investable market, while South Africa slipped one place from the previous ranking amid a weaker economic growth outlook. Botswana also dropped two places.
Nigeria’s improved ranking comes against the backdrop of major fiscal and monetary reforms, including the removal of the petrol subsidy, changes to the foreign exchange market and electricity tariff reforms.
The Federal Government has maintained that the measures are necessary to correct economic distortions, strengthen public finances and create a more favourable environment for investment.
However, the reforms have also increased living and operating costs for households and businesses, particularly through higher transportation, food and energy prices.
Despite the pressures, Nigeria’s economic growth has strengthened over the period covered by the assessment.
Real Gross Domestic Product growth rose from 2.54 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 to 3.46 per cent in the fourth quarter of that year. The economy recorded average growth of 3.19 per cent in 2024 before accelerating to 3.85 per cent in 2025.
Growth stood at 3.89 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, putting average quarterly growth between the third quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2026 at about 3.46 per cent.
The improvement in Nigeria’s investment ranking, however, comes amid a significant increase in public debt.
Data from the Debt Management Office showed that total public debt rose from N87.38 trillion as of June 30, 2023, to N159.28 trillion by December 31, 2025.
The N71.90 trillion increase represents an 82.3 per cent rise over two and a half years. The DMO attributed the increase to new borrowing, foreign exchange adjustments and the securitisation of certain legacy obligations.
Nigeria has historically faced difficulties attracting foreign capital because of exchange-rate volatility, policy uncertainty, infrastructure deficits, insecurity and limited fiscal space.
The Tinubu administration’s reforms have sought to address some of these challenges by allowing greater market influence over fuel prices, foreign exchange rates and electricity tariffs.
The foreign exchange reforms were intended to reduce multiple exchange rates and improve transparency in the currency market, while the removal of the petrol subsidy was aimed at easing the government’s fiscal burden.
Electricity tariff reforms, meanwhile, were designed to improve the financial viability of the power sector and encourage investment by allowing tariffs for some customer categories to better reflect the cost of supply.
Nigeria’s rise in the Bloomberg ranking represents an improvement in its relative standing among African investment destinations. However, investors are likely to continue monitoring the sustainability of the reforms, as well as inflation, public debt and the pace of economic growth.
