SOUTH Africa and Mauritius are the most tourism investment-friendly markets in SADC, while Swaziland, Lesotho, the DRC and Angola present the most challenges to potential investors.

So says Gillian Saunders, director: strategic solutions at Grant Thornton consultants. She says after South Africa and Mauritius, the next best regional markets to invest in are Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. Madagascar and Malawi are new emerging investment markets, while investment in Tanzania and Zimbabwe is being hindered. She says new trends in hospitality investment in Africa - resulting from democratisation and the rise of free market economies - include national hotels being privatised; concessions granted in nature reserves; large resorts being funded by large international corporations, which, however, take all the money they make out of the country (e.g. Cape Verde); small boutique leisure and business properties; and real estate related investments in South Africa and Mauritius such as timeshare, whole ownership and fractional title properties. Saunders says the tourism investment climate in Africa varies according to political and social conditions, the tourism set up and the general business investment and economic situation. Regulations, fiscal policies, investment promotion incentives and support provided impact on the investment climate.
 
According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), SADC's top countries for doing business in are (in order) Botswana and Zambia; South Africa and Zimbabwe; Namibia; Tanzania and Malawi; Madagascar; Lesotho; Mozambique and lastly, Angola and the DRC. This is according to IFC indices benchmarking SADC countries against the world average in terms of the number of procedures and days needed to start a new business; the rigidity of employment; the number of procedures and days needed to register a property and obtaining credit; legal rights; protection of investors; enforcement of contracts; and land tenure, which is restricted in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Madagascar. Obtaining finance for tourism projects is difficult even in more developed and investor friendly countries, Gillian says. Tourism projects are mostly funded by national development banks, equity funding sources such as pension funds, venture capital, foreign individuals and local investors. Commercial banks perceive tourism as high risk and are reluctant to invest. The most common problems experienced by tourism investors revolve around corporate governance and transparency; land tenure; infrastructure and services; onerous bureaucracy; and unrealistic government requirements. Current hospitality investors in Africa include: * Middle East: Kingdom Hotels Investments; IFA;  Istithmar; Serena (Aga Khan); and Emaar.
* Egypt: Kharafi    
* Australia: Stella Hospitality Group
* Portugal: various
* Germany: Arabella
* French: Accor
* Indian: Taj South African hospitality investors include: Peermont, Sun International, IDC, Jomo Sono, Legacy, Wilderness and Cons Corp. 
Zimbabwe: African Sun and Meikles
Nigeria: Niger Insurance Co and First Atlantic Asset Management.