The first edition of the Barclays Africa Trade Index has identified South Africa as the most open and potentially lucrative country on the African continent for UK companies looking to expand their businesses. The report was commissioned by Barclays Bank in order to assess the economic attractiveness and investment propositions of countries within the African continent.

The Report looked at 31 of the sub-Saharan countries, and within this group South Africa ranked second in terms of abundance of opportunities after Nigeria, and first for openness and ties to other African countries.

Nigeria was assessed as possessing excellent long term opportunities, but only ranked mid table in terms of openness and intra-African connectivity. South Africa was considered the “stand out” performer in terms of the overall index with Nigeria still having to make significant progress before it could compete with South Africa as a regional trade hub or as a gateway to other African markets.

Both countries are experiencing challenges at present. Growth has slowed in the South African economy with the country experiencing power shortages, as well as rising interest rates and inflation. Nigeria, on the other hand, has an economy that is highly dependent on the oil industry, and thus has been severely set back with the slump in the oil price.

Overall trading and investment opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa has shown significant growth over the last 10 years. In 2013 the UK exported about £8.2bn ($12.5bn) of goods to sub-Saharan countries, and exports have increased 6% annually since 2004.

The report states that “The most populous states are the most prominent in terms of trade opportunity in the Barclays Africa Trade Index and their future prospects on the whole suggest rising incomes, an expanding middle class and much larger and more sophisticated consumer markets.”

Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Tanzania all rank in the top six performing countries on trade opportunity, while Ethiopia, Congo, Tanzania and Nigeria, together with Ghana and Mozambique, lead in average economic growth over the past five years, Barclays said.