--- description: Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, attracts the most attention from American and European multinationals out of all frontier markets title: Frontier Markets Sentiment Index: Nigeria Tops List image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f43ded42cb338a9/698696db55a859c434a814a8/lagos_nigeria_10-jun.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Economy](/tag/economy/) ## Economy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sub-Saharan Africa Is the New Investment Frontier by [Stephanie Burnett](/author/stephanie-burnett/) ## Stephanie Burnett Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 10, 2014 7:54 AM CUT  Nigeria has attracted much attention from American and European multinationals, according to a new survey. Here is the Victoria Island waterfront in Lagos from June 3, 2014 Nigeria has attracted much attention from American and European multinationals, according to a new survey. Here is the Victoria Island waterfront in Lagos from June 3, 2014Joe Penney—Reuters by [Stephanie Burnett](/author/stephanie-burnett/) ## Stephanie Burnett Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 10, 2014 7:54 AM CUT Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is the frontier market that attracts the most attention from American and European multinationals, according to an index [commissioned](http://blogs.wsj.com/frontiers/2014/06/06/nigeria-argentina-and-vietnam-prove-top-picks-for-multinationals/?mod=e2tw "undefined") by the _Wall Street Journal_. Argentina, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia followed respectively. But it was the sub-Saharan Africa countries that dominated the table, making up nine of the top 20 economies. Asia had three countries in the top tier. The data found that one country in particular has seen multinationals’ interest wane dramatically. From 2013 to June 2014, corporate sentiment toward Ukraine [dropped](http://blogs.wsj.com/frontiers/2014/06/06/nigeria-argentina-and-vietnam-prove-top-picks-for-multinationals/?mod=e2tw "undefined") 12.5 points following a long period of violent protests and political instability. The Frontier Markets Sentiment Index, developed by Frontier Strategy Group, based in Washington, D.C., provides insight into 200 multinationals’ sentiments toward markets regarded as the riskiest to invest in. Matt Lasov, global head of advisory and analytics at Frontier Strategy Group, told the _Wall Street Journal_: “We collect data about which countries the companies are watching for potential future investment. Over time, that gives us a clear picture of their market priorities — which countries are they including in their future plans and which they are dropping.” \[[_WSJ_](http://blogs.wsj.com/frontiers/2014/06/06/nigeria-argentina-and-vietnam-prove-top-picks-for-multinationals/?mod=e2tw "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2851195/frontier-markets-sentiment-index/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2851195/frontier-markets-sentiment-index/"},"headline":"Sub-Saharan Africa Is the New Investment Frontier","datePublished":"2014-06-10T07:54:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:19:00.117Z","description":"Nigeria leads frontier markets in attracting attention from American and European companies, according to the latest Frontier Markets Sentiment Index","url":"https://time.com/2851195/frontier-markets-sentiment-index/","keywords":["Economy","Vietnam","Africa","Business topic","Asia","investment","Nigeria","Argentina"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f43ded42cb338a9/698696db55a859c434a814a8/lagos_nigeria_10-jun.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Burnett","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/stephanie-burnett/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f43ded42cb338a9/698696db55a859c434a814a8/lagos_nigeria_10-jun.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Victoria Island waterfront is seen from the Ikoyi neighbourhood in Lagos","caption":"The Victoria Island waterfront is seen from the Ikoyi neighbourhood in Lagos","creditText":"Joe Penney—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/economy/","name":"Economy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2851195/frontier-markets-sentiment-index/","name":"Sub-Saharan Africa Is the New Investment Frontier"}}]}] ```