JOHANNESBURG TOP AFRICAN IFC

摘要

Johannesburg is the African financial centre that has attracted the largest volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the three years to the end of March 2015, with a total of $234.8m directed to its financial services sector, as estimated by database fDi Intelligence. No projects have been recorded in the South African city since August 2014, however, a reflection of the lacklustre performance of South Africa's economy last year. The country is yet to see a return of the higher growth rates that it experienced before the financial crisis hit seven years ago. In 2014, gross domestic product grew by only 1.5%, down from 2.2% a year previous, and the lowest figure since the 2009 recession. Accra secured second place in the ranking thanks to $214.5m-worth of FDI in its financial services sector. Ghana's capital may not be an obvious financial hub, as the country is better known for its rich natural resources than its financial services sector, but the city benefited from a large investment by South Africa-based Standard Bank, which invested $138m on a new data centre in Accra. The project accounts for almost two-thirds of the city's total inward FDI in financial services in the period.