According to this Article i stumbled on Marketwatch.com, As published by Sara Sjolin their Markets reporter,we’re presented with fascinating facts on reasons why potential investors should delve into the African market….Enjoy!

Africa could be the next big story in emerging-market stocks

Bloomberg Cosmo City, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa and a stronghold of the continent’s growing middle class.

LONDON (MarketWatch) — If a financial adviser offered her clients a chance to invest in a country that expected economic growth of 6% or 7% a year for the next two decades, chances are the clients would jump at the prospect.

But once they found out that country was in sub-Saharan Africa, chances are a lot of them would lose their nerve.

With the Ebola virus ravaging the populations and economies of several West African countries, and armed conflicts claiming lives in Nigeria, Kenya and other nations, Africa continually generates the kind of headlines that make Westerners uneasy. And in the U.S. in particular, the continent barely appears on investors’ radar screens. David Snowball, publisher of the Mutual Fund Observer newsletter, estimates that only about 0.3% of the average portfolio in the U.S. — just $3 out of every $1,000 — is invested in Africa.

But more fund managers and economists believe it’s time for that to change. With a lot of factors falling into place at the same time — rapid economic growth, unprecedented political stability, and a young and increasingly middle-class population — the continent could be at the foothills of a promising upturn.

For investors with steady nerves, the bulls say, Africa offers an opportunity to reap a better return than they would in the “old” emerging markets — an opportunity to cash on greater growth than they can expect from, say, the BRICs or the MINTs. While economic growth and a rising stock market don’t always occur in tandem, some investors see the two creating a virtuous cycle in Africa.

“We believe that Africa could be the ‘emerging market’ story of the next decade,” said Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group and manager of the Templeton Africa Fund, in emailed comments. (Read an interview with Mobius here.)

Jim O’Neill, who coined the term BRIC (for Brazil, Russia, India and China) and is former chief economist at Goldman Sachs, is also investing in the region; among other moves, he personally bought a significant chunk of Pagatech, a Nigerian mobile-payment company, earlier this year. (Read Jim O’Neill: Short the euro, watch Apple and more tips.)

Of course, there’s no single, monolithic Africa to invest in. There are 54 countries in the sub-Saharan category, ranging from large and relatively stable democracies like South Africa to tiny, volatile dictatorships. Most of the continent’s stock markets are relatively new and expensive for outsiders to invest in, and risks — including financial and political corruption — abound.

In short, for most investors, African stocks are a speculative play with high rewards and high risks — not the kind of “core” investment you’d bet your nest egg on. As frontier-markets investor Thomas Vester puts it, if you can’t turn on CNN without getting freaked out, this isn’t a region for you. That said, a payoff could await the patient investor with a long time horizon who can ride out the impact of some bad headlines.

For more on how to invest in Africa, see these tips on mutual funds, ETFs and stocks.

A continent’s growth prospects

The International Monetary Fund estimates that the real GDP of sub-Saharan Africa as a whole will grow by 5.1% and 5.8% in 2014 and 2015, respectively, as foreign investments in natural resources, increased public spending on infrastructure and better agricultural production combine to help local economies accelerate.

Those are the kind of growth numbers that developed economies, and even other emerging markets, can only envy. The IMF in its most recent World Economic Outlook estimated that the U.S. economy will expand by 3.1% in 2015, while the euro area is forecast to produce growth of only around 1.3%.

Granted, it’s easier for underdeveloped economies to deliver eye-popping growth numbers, since they’re starting from a much smaller economic base than the developed world. Still, economists think many African countries can expect even more impressive growth than the average for the continent. Paul Collier, co-director at the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University says some African nations have the potential to double their economies over the next decade (which implies growth of over 7% a year, a rare accomplishment in the global context).

Collier cites Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia as potential doublers. “You’re looking at strong economic growth, reasonable economic management and favorable balance sheets,” in each of those nations, said Collier, who currently also is adviser to the Africa Region of the World Bank.

Source: International Monetary Fund

Favorable demography is helping to drive Africa’s growth. With the youngest population in the world, the region is in the economically fortunate situation of having a lot of people entering the workforce and very few retired people. In that sense it’s the opposite of Germany and Japan, where large populations of retirees are becoming a brake to economic growth.

In the strongest African economies, as the workforce expands, economists expect demographics to drive higher demand for services, goods, housing and infrastructure, which in turn will help drive domestic economies.

“The burgeoning middle class needs to be nurtured and supported, with a little help from prudent policy, and a constructive global economic backdrop,” said Mobius of Franklin Templeton.

Thomas Vester, overseer of $875 million at the LGM Frontier Markets fund BLGFX, +0.11% explained that political stability is another major factor in Africa’s growth prospects.
Country snapshot: Kenya
Category
2015 expected GDP growth 6.2%
Population 45 million
Top industries Agriculture, oil refining, tourism, manufacturing
Challenges Corruption, low infrastructure investment, terrorism
Stock index USE All-Share: 64 companies listed; up 23% YTD
Notable companies Safaricom (mobile network); East African Breweries; Equity Bank; Nation Media Group

Sources: IMF, CIA World Factbook, Bloomberg, FactSet

Where African government leaders in the past hesitated to commit to longer-term projects—such as infrastructure and housing construction — many now feel more comfortable with planning further ahead, because they don’t fear being ousted immediately, said Vester.

Vester pointed to Kenya, Ghana, Botswana and Zambia as countries that could benefit from this

[b]Read more and see graph Via [/b]http://popafrica.com/reasons-invest-africa/