Increased Foreign Investment will be “Good for Africa”: Global Poll

Backgrounder: Region-by-Region Results

North America

In the US, respondents are mostly positive about the recent influx of foreign investment into Africa, with 61 per cent saying this investment is a good thing for Africa—in line with the global average of 63 per cent. On this question, American respondents are significantly more upbeat than respondents in any other big donor nation surveyed except the UK.
Respondents also appear quite optimistic about Africa’s economic prospects. Fifty-five per cent of Americans are optimistic that the African continent will experience major economic growth in the next 10 to 20 years—a figure in line with the 22-country global average (58%). It is noteworthy that as the top contributor to aid development, the US is significantly more optimistic than the surveyed major donor countries in the EU. Nonetheless, more than two in five Americans (42%) are pessimistic—well above the global average of 33 per cent.

Latin America

Attitudes in Brazil, the region’s economic giant, are sharply divergent. Brazilians are largely positive about the increased investments made in African economies by foreign companies. Two-thirds of Brazilians (66%) consider them a positive thing, while only 23 per cent say they are a bad thing—proportions in line with the global averages (63% and 24%). But Brazil also emerges as the least optimistic country in the region, with respondents divided on the issue of Africa’s projected economic growth: 46 per cent of Brazilians are pessimists on this subject, compared to 47 per cent who are optimists.
Respondents in the other Latin American countries polled are also positive about the recent growth in foreign investment in Africa. Panamanians are the most upbeat, with an overwhelming majority seeing foreign investment as a good thing for African economies (77%). In Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru, majorities above or in line with the global average (63%) are also optimistic. In Chile, positive perceptions of foreign investment in Africa are not as strong, with only 51 per cent of Chileans stating that such investment is a good thing for the continent. A significant proportion of respondents offers no clear opinion (34%, the highest proportion in the survey).
Those who are optimistic about Africa’s economic prospects in the upcoming 20 years far outnumber those who are pessimistic (59% vs 27% at the regional level). However, there are differences at the country level. Panamanians are the most optimistic, with almost three-quarters (74%) who think that Africa will experience major economic growth over the next two decades. Strong majorities also share this opinion in Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico (65%, 63%, and 61% respectively). Respondents in Chile are not so upbeat, with only a plurality of 45 per cent that is optimistic, while almost one in three (29%) does not have an opinion on the issue—the highest percentage in the survey.

Europe

In the EU countries, the proportion that speaks positively about increasing investment by foreign companies in Africa is bigger than the proportion who are optimistic about Africa’s future economic prospects. However, EU respondents, except in Britain, remain comparatively much less upbeat than respondents in most other countries surveyed. Over six in ten Britons (62%) consider increasing foreign investment as a good thing for Africa—a figure in line with the global average (63%). A slim majority of French respondents (51%) also feels positive, and 49 per cent feel this way in Spain. However, these two countries have the second and third highest percentages of people that think that increased overseas investment in the African economy is a bad thing (44% and 40%, respectively). Germany is again the most doubtful among the countries surveyed, with 56 per cent of Germans reporting that such development is a bad thing for the continent—the only country with a majority of people with negative perceptions (against a global average of 24%).
Most European countries are pessimistic about Africa’s economic prospects for the 20 years ahead—Europe is the only region where pessimists outnumber optimists overall. At a regional level, four in ten Europeans (40%) say they are optimistic that Africa will experience a major phase of economic growth in the next two decades, as opposed to 51 per cent with pessimistic views.
Majorities of respondents in the four EU countries surveyed—all among the top ten contributors to foreign aid—are pessimistic about the future growth of African economies. Germans are the most downbeat, with seven in ten (70%) pessimistic, compared to just 29 per cent who are optimistic. Pessimists also outnumber optimists in the UK (58% vs 38%), France (56% vs 41%), and Spain (50% vs 42%). Among the countries surveyed, only these four have majorities of pessimists. Optimism is not widespread in Russia either, where a plurality of 42 per cent has pessimistic views about Africa’s economic prospects, although a high proportion (23%) has no definite opinion on the topic.
At the periphery of Europe, Turkey is the only surveyed country in Europe where a majority of respondents is optimistic that Africa will experience major economic growth in the next 10 to 20 years: 57 per cent are optimistic compared to 31 per cent pessimistic—figures very similar to the global averages (58% vs 33%). An even stronger majority of Turks considers increased foreign investment in Africa to be a good thing for the African continent: 72 per cent have positive views, which is above the 63 per cent global average.

Africa

Africans are among the most positive about the recent developments that have seen foreign companies purchase long-term rights to African natural resources and land. Nigerians are the most likely to rate these foreign investments as good for Africa (85%, highest percentage in the survey). Perceptions in Kenya (75%), Ghana (72%), and Egypt (71%) are also very positive, with proportions largely above the 63 per cent global average. These scores are equaled, or exceeded, only in the Philippines, Panama, and Turkey.
Africans are also very upbeat with regard to the future of their continent’s economy. In the four countries surveyed, very large majorities are optimistic that Africa will experience “major economic growth” over the next 10 to 20 years. Eighty-five per cent feel this way in Egypt, 80 per cent in Nigeria, 75 per cent in Kenya, and 74 per cent in Ghana. These proportions are higher than in any of the other countries polled except Panama (74%), and demonstrate Africans’ hope that strong and sustained economic growth will eventually alleviate poverty on the continent. Aggregated at the regional level, results show that only 18 per cent of Africans are pessimistic—a proportion much lower than the global average (33%).

Asia

Among the Asian countries surveyed, Filipinos are by far the most favourable towards increased overseas investment in Africa. Almost eight in ten (78%) think such investment represents a positive development for Africa—the second highest proportion in the survey after Nigeria. Sixty-three per cent of Indonesians and 54 per cent of Pakistanis share the same opinion. In India, a smaller proportion of Indians considers the growing wave of foreign investment in Africa to be a good thing. With only a plurality of 47 per cent of respondents reporting positive opinions, this is the third lowest percentage in the survey, sixteen points below the global average (63%).
When it comes to assessing Africa’s economic prospects for the 20 years ahead, optimists outnumber pessimists in Asia. At the regional level, 58 per cent say they are optimistic, compared to 27 per cent who are pessimistic—proportions very similar to those seen in Latin America. However, there are some disparities at the country level. Indonesians and Filipinos are the most optimistic that Africa will experience strong and sustained economic growth in the next two decades (68% and 66%, respectively). Respondents in India and Pakistan also share this opinion, but with slimmer majorities (55% and 53%), and the proportions of Indians and Pakistanis who are unable to give an answer are quite high (19% and 23%, respectively).
In China, optimism is more tempered, with just one in two respondents (50%) saying that the African continent is set to experience major economic growth in the next 10 to 20 years, and 36 per cent who have the opposite opinion. In contrast, when it comes to thinking about the impact of the increased foreign investment on Africa, nearly two-thirds of Chinese consider it a good thing for the continent (64%), and only 18 per cent see it as a bad thing.

Methodology

In total 21,558 citizens in Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States were interviewed face-to-face or by telephone between July 3 and September 16, 2011. Polling was conducted for BBC World Service by GlobeScan and its research partners in each country.
In Brazil, China, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Panama, the Philippines, and Turkey urban samples were used. The margin of error per country ranges from +/- 2.0 to 4.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
 

• In Brazil the survey was conducted in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Curitiba, Goiânia, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo, representing 18 per cent of the national population.
• In China the survey was conducted in Beijing, Beiliu, Chengdu, Dujiangyan, Fenyang, Fuyang, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Manzhouli, Quanzhou, Qujing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shuangcheng, Wuhan, Xi’an, Xining, and Zhengzhou, representing 45 per cent of the national adult population.
• In Ecuador the survey was conducted in Cuenca, Guayaquil and Quito, representing 52 per cent of the urban population.
• In Egypt the survey was conducted in Alexandria, Cairo, Giza, and Shubra El-Kheima, representing 24 per cent of the national population.
• In Indonesia the survey was conducted in Bandung, Jakarta, Makassar, Medan, and Surabaya, representing 27 per cent of the national adult population.
• In Panama the survey was conducted in Panamá, Chiriquí, Colón, Coclé, Veraguas, Herrera, Bocas del Toro and Los Santos, representing 70 per cent of the adult population.
• In the Philippines the survey was conducted in the National Capital Region, representing 27 per cent of the urban adult population.
• In Turkey the survey was conducted in Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Istanbul, Izmir, Konya, Samsun, and Zonguldak, representing 56 per cent of the national adult population.

Research Partners

Question Wording