Nigeria Leads Africa in Global Search Engine Appeal (Trade & Investments Category)

Central Business District, Lagos

A new global ranking which measures the “search engine” appeal of countries in the fields of Tourism and Investment has placed Nigeria as number 1. The research conducted by Spain based Bloom Consulting shows that 560,000 searches were made in the Trade and Investment category in 2013. The most popular online searches about Nigeria in this category were about the “corruption level”, the “oil and gas industry” and the “growing economy”.

In the Tourism category, Nigeria placed 14th position, below countries like South Africa (2), Kenya (4), Uganda (8) and Botswana (13). The searches by potential tourists revealed that Nigeria’s strongest assets were its “historical heritage” the “local people” and the “local culture”.

TRADE & INVESTMENT CATEGORY			TOURISM CATEGORY
COUNTRY	POSITION	RATING	COUNTRY	POSITION	RATING
Nigeria BBB	1	BBB	Egypt	1	AA
Egypt	2	A	South Africa	2	AA
South Africa	3	A	Morocco	3	AA
Morocco	4	AA	Kenya	4	AAA
Ghana	5	BBB	Mauritius	5	AA

Search engine appeal has become an important factor in measuring nation appeal. According to a recent Google study (Google/Ipsos MediaCT - The 2012 Traveller), 70% of leisure travellers begin researching their trip online. Another report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (Economist IU - Assessing and explaining risk Investors’ expectations after the financial crisis - 2010) reveals that more than 58% of investors assess investment risk online.

The Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © 2013 is based on global research that measures, among other variables, the number of searches produced every year by potential tourists and investors about every nation. Further details of the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © 2013 for both Tourism and Trade (Investment) including ranking and methodology are available at   http://bloom-consulting.com/en/nation-branding